Tears of War Read online

  “That sounds wonderful.” Namir turned and soared out over the bay, his golden scales glittering in the sun.

  Maleena stood with Taela at the desk in the records room, the Ka’ti open in front of them. She watched the translations of the symbols as they formed in her friend’s mind.

  “Oh, what about that one?”

  Taela’s eyes stopped moving over the page. “That one?”

  “No, the one just before. Yes, that one.”

  “It does look interesting.”

  Maleena nodded. “It looks incredibly useful, especially since we will both be leaving for crowded cities soon.”

  Taela glanced up at her. “Should we try it?”

  Maleena hesitated for a moment. “We have to know if it works.”

  “Who are we going to try it on?”

  “Hopefully not the entire hold this time.” They both laughed at the memory.

  “What is so funny?” Mckale’s deep voice made them look up. He stood in the doorway with Kellinar.

  Maleena smiled. “Nothing of importance. What are you two doing here?”

  “Kellinar informed me you intended to experiment with weaves from the Ka’ti again.” His silver eyes were steady on hers. “Are you sure that is a good idea?”

  Taela nodded. “Absolutely. There are weaves in here that can be very helpful to Maleena and me. This one we just found, it may make it easier for us to be in crowded rooms. We have to try.”

  Maleena smiled. “We will do our best to keep it from affecting everyone.”

  Kellinar cleared his throat and glanced at the taller man next to him. “Mckale and I are actually here to offer ourselves as your victims. Maybe if you have someone specific to aim these weaves at, you won’t involve the entire hold.”

  Maleena glanced at Taela. The other woman shrugged and she looked back at the men. “You are sure you want to do this?”

  Mckale nodded; warmth and humor in his eyes. “Just try not to do anything permanent.”

  “What was the weave again?” Maleena sent to Taela.

  Taela's eyes scanned the page again. “There it is. Are you sure about using our bondmates for this?”

  Maleena glanced briefly toward the men. “I don’t think this weave will hurt them. In fact, it will be interesting to see if it will even work on bondmates.”

  Kellinar looked at Mckale. “Watching them talk in their heads is unnerving.”

  “Yes,” he agreed. “Nothing like getting meaningful looks and hearing half said remarks to set you on edge. I hope they don’t have anything too drastic planned for us.”

  Taela chortled. “Sorry, we are so comfortable ‘talking’ in our minds to each other; I didn’t think it would bother you.”

  Kellinar’s blue eyes twinkled. “Only when I don’t know what you have planned for me bondmate. After all, you did threaten to stab me this morning.”

  Mckale’s eyes settled on Taela. “She threatened to stab you?”

  Kellinar nodded. “I suggested she stay here when Serena and I leave for Trilene.”

  Mckale rolled his eyes. “I told you not to mention it. I said it wouldn’t go over well.”

  Taela glared at Kellinar. “He will not leave me behind while he flies into danger.”

  “Yes, much better that we both be in danger.” Kellinar’s eyes held a touch of the sadness Maleena had seen in them earlier.

  She laid her hand on Taela’s arm. “Let us get back to the task at hand.”

  Taela held the translation steady in her mind and Maleena reached out to the river of Silver magic flowing through her. She selected several threads, double checking the translation several times. When she was sure she had the right strands, she wove them together, laying each one carefully over the other until the weave looked identical to the one Taela held in her mind.

  Maleena looked at Mckale leaning against the doorway. She smiled at him, her heart overflowing, then sent the weave spinning through the air toward him. He couldn’t see it of course; his eyes were still on her even as the weave settled over his head.

  Taela leaned closer. “Did it work?”

  Maleena shook her head. “I can still feel everything from him.” She let the weave unravel.

  “He is your bondmate; it might not work with him. Try it on Kellinar, maybe it will work on him.”

  Kellinar laughed. “You are so kind, my love.”

  Taela shook her head. “Stop being silly. It isn’t anything that will hurt you. Or it shouldn’t anyway.”

  “That’s very comforting.”

  Maleena suppressed a smile and made another weave identical to the first and sent it toward her friend. This time, when it settled over him, she felt the immediate absence of all emotion from him.

  Her eyes widened and she crossed the room until she stood an arm’s length away. Still, she felt nothing. She purposely reached out with her mind toward his. It felt dim, as if a heavy curtain was wrapped around it. She reached out and touched his arm. His unblocked emotions poured into her. He was a good person with a good soul. The emotional flood wasn’t painful and caused no discomfort thanks to the shield Mckale provided.

  She dropped her hand and stepped back. Mckale stood straighter, ready to help her if she needed it. But standing there without touching him, Kellinar’s emotions again receded behind the heavy curtain. She turned to Taela. “It works, but not with your bondmate.” Maleena unraveled the weave and let it dissipate. “You try.”

  She watched as Taela wove the threads together and sent them toward Mckale. A look of wonder crossed her face. “This is going to be perfect for crowded rooms.” The weave unraveled and fell away from Mckale.

  Kellinar’s eyes glanced first at Taela, then at her. “What did it do exactly?”

  Taela smiled at him. “It helps block others. In a crowded room it would reduce the emotions to nothing more than a murmur.”

  Mckale nodded. “That will be helpful, but it doesn’t change anything when you touch someone?”

  Maleena shook her head. “No, for that your shield will have to be enough.”

  Deep sadness from Nydara washed through her and she looked at Taela. Tears shimmered in the other woman’s eyes.

  Kellinar walked forward. “Taela?”

  “Emallya didn’t make it in time.” Maleena looked at Mckale and saw her sorrow reflected in his eyes.

  Taela took a deep breath and wiped away the tear trailing down her face. “The egg is dead.”

  Maleena sent waves of comfort to her dragon. Nydara’s despair filled her. Tellnox also grieved the loss of the egg. It was the first egg of their clutch to die. Mckale let his breath out in a long exhalation and moved to put his arm around her waist. “We knew this would happen.The Fates have been kind to allow so many to hatch already.”

  He was right. Seven of the eggs had sang and been united with their riders. It could be so much worse. Still, she felt a pang of sadness at the two lost lives and a touch of anger that the destined rider had either taken their own life, or was killed for no reason. It made their journeys back to their previous homes all that more important. They had to let people know. Hopefully, the nations would listen.

  Maleena swung her sword in a smooth arch only to have it blocked again. She spun in a quick movement. Not fast enough, Emallya’s blade sent her sprawling. With a growl, she grabbed her sword from where it fell and pulled herself to her feet. Wiping the sweat from her face, she set her feet and brought the sword up again.

  Emallya hesitated a moment. Maleena knew the older woman waited to make sure she was ready before launching an attack. This time, Maleena managed to slide smoothly away from Emallya’s blade and make a counterattack. She held her own for a few minutes before Emallya’s wooden practice blade smacked into her again.

  Maleena hit the ground with a grunt, her ribs aching. She rolled with it and came up on her feet. Again, she set herself, determined.

  Emallya shook her head and sat down on the grass of the practice field. “We’ve been at thi
s long enough today. You are already going to hurt tonight. I imagine you already have some very fancy bruises.”

  “I have to learn this, Emallya. We prepare to leave Galdrilene. I can’t be defenseless.” Maleena let her wooden sword drop to her side. “Please.”

  “You are hardly defenseless, Maleena.” Emallya leaned back on her hands and stretched her legs out in front of her, ankles crossed. “You just may have to depend more on your magic.”

  Maleena flopped to the ground, with a frustrated groan. “Why is this so hard for me? Kellinar didn’t know the sword before he started training with you and that was only a month or so before I started. Kirynn is only two years older than me and infinitely more skilled.”

  Emallya smiled. “Kellinar has a natural aptitude with weapons. Even so he prefers the zahri which is akin to a quarterstaff. He has been using one of those for many years. Taela shares his natural abilities with weapons, and she trained for several years before she heard the call. Serena struggles as you do. Like you, the handling of weapons doesn’t come naturally.”

  Maleena glanced across the field where Kirynn moved in a blur against Vaddoc. “What about Kirynn. Is she a natural? Are you a natural?”

  Emallya threw back her head and laughed before looking at her. “No. I was not a natural. Before becoming a Dragon Rider, I never touched a weapon, never considered being a fighter. I dreamt of a husband, a home, and lots of babies. I am good because I have had over six hundred years to become so.”

  Maleena glanced at the lethal redhead soundly beating the taller and stronger Borderman. “And Kirynn? She hasn’t had six hundred years. Vaddoc is very skilled, not to mention bigger and stronger. How is it she always beats him?”

  The older woman followed her gaze. “Kirynn is a combination of natural affinity and extreme training. No one trains like the Boromari. Not even their nearest neighbor, Kanther. Which is why Kanther is losing. One wonders why they would choose to pick a fight with Boromar. The Boromari are generally a peaceful nation. They don’t invade other nations but they vigorously defend what is theirs.”

  Maleena watched Kirynn slip past an attack by Vaddoc and deliver a solid blow to Vaddoc. “How do they train?”

  “At the age of six, all Boromari children go to weapons training.” Emallya paused to brush away the hair tossed into her face by the breeze. “They are not treated harshly. They have warm comfortable beds, good food, warm water to bathe with, and everything they need. They are required to spend a month in training. At the end of a month if they wish to go home they may. However, if they choose to stay, they must complete an entire year of training. Boys and girls are housed together. They do everything together. Eat, sleep, bathe, train, everything.

  Emallya shifted forward, drawing her legs up. “At the end of the year, any who want to go home may do so. Again, any that wish to stay are committed to another year. Each year they have that choice until they reach the age of ten at which time they must commit to two years. Only those that are truly doing well are asked to stay.

  “At twelve they are determined old enough to no longer need the coddling of small children. They move from the comfortable barracks to the interim barracks, where there are only hard cots for sleeping and cold water for bathing. After two years of that, they can again choose to go home. Any that stay must do so for the next six years when the training is finished.”

  Emallya watched Kirynn land another blow on Vaddoc. “They are fourteen then and move to the intermediate barracks, which really aren’t barracks at all. They are issued small tents and cook pots to simulate battlefield conditions. They are often required to sleep without tent or bedroll. It is a matter of pride to graduate from the cots and protective walls of the actual barracks. Warm food is provided, but they are expected to live off the land as much as possible. Few take the provided food. Although they will face no recriminations from their trainers, they will from their peers. Their age-mates will poke fun at them and generally make it undesirable. A lack of ability in living off the land translates to a lack of ability overall to their age-mates.”

  Maleena listened to Emallya while she watched Kirynn’s tireless sparing with Vaddoc. “Do many children stay?”

  Emallya smiled. “Enough. To complete the training is considered the highest honor in Boromar. The children are fed that with their mother’s milk. From the age of six, Kirynn has eaten, slept, and breathed weapons and training with them. Her days were consumed with it. Vaddoc is bigger and stronger, but the Boromari teach women and smaller men how to compensate for that. The only danger to Kirynn is another Boromari soldier. And then only if a Dragon Rider. Kirynn is much faster and stronger than anyone who is unbonded.”

  Maleena drew her knees up, wrapping her arms around them. “So I’m doomed to always be worthless with a sword?”

  Emallya shook her head. “Eventually, you will get better if you keep at it. Even I got better. It only took about a hundred years, but I did succeed in becoming a master with the sword.”

  Maleena glared at the practice sword lying in the grass. “I don’t know why I am even bothering to take a sword with me.”

  “You are good enough to take on someone of middling skill. Especially with your bond-heightened strength and speed.”

  Maleena gazed at the older woman for a long time, trying to imagine a young Emallya before the call. One who wanted a husband and lots of babies. “You got more than a husband, you got a bondmate. Did you ever get any of the babies you wanted?”

  Emallya looked away and stared at the mountains marching away into the distance. “I had three children. My second child, a son, became a Dragon Rider. He was killed by a Shadow Rider fifteen years after Hatching his dragon. My youngest became a mage. He never had any children of his own and died in the last battle of the War of Fire. My oldest had not a spark of magic in her. She had three children. By the time the last battle came around, I had seven great-grandchildren. The youngest great-grandchild was only a tiny baby. She and her family were all killed in the last battle of the War of Fire. There was nothing left of their home but charred ruins. After Rylin was killed, I no longer cycled. A rider cannot cycle if their dragon does not and my dragon was dead.”

  She turned back to look at Maleena, her eyes hardened by memories of despair. “Shadow Riders took everything from me except Bardeck, Mernoth, and…”

  “And what?” Maleena’s brow furrowed; the older woman had left something out.

  Emallya shook her head and smiled slightly. “Nothing. It is just sometimes the things that survived surprise me.”

  Maleena nodded, thinking the other woman meant the Ka’ti. “You only had three in all that time?”

  Emallya chuckled. “As you have discovered, we are not a particularly fertile lot. Our dragons have strange cycles and it messes up the rhythm of our own. How many times have you cycled in the two and a half years since you hatched Nydara?”

  “Four…maybe five,” Maleena admitted. It saddened her that it could still be many years before she might have a child.

  “You see? With your cycles so rare and erratic, it is hard for your body to be receptive and allow a babe to settle in.” Emallya smiled. “It will happen eventually, I am sure.”

  Kirynn’s shadow fell across them as she and Vaddoc walked up. “It’s hard to practice when you are lounging around.”

  Maleena tipped her head back and looked up at her friend. The redhead smiled at her. “Emallya decided I had enough and it was time to stop. Honestly, I think she grew tired of knocking me into the dirt repeatedly.”

  Kirynn laughed. “You will get it. And even if you are never great with weapons, you have other strengths. Not everyone is meant to be a warrior.”

  Kirynn sat in the saddle on Syrakynn, waiting for Vaddoc. The light orbs and torches set around the caldera rim held back the dark of a new moon. Two Defenders stood near, ready to lead the horses through the Slide. Thanks to her dragon-bond, she could pick out the scrollwork on the horses saddles. Namir stood to h
er left, Cat already on the saddle. Kirynn shook her head, remembering the night Cat had scared a very young Namir. Now, the dragon refused to leave for Shadereen without the animal.

  Vaddoc strode across the caldera floor to Namir’s side. He stopped to fasten the catcher strap then stepped up on the gold’s front leg and pulled himself into the saddle. Cat trilled and watched with orange eyes as Vaddoc fastened the safety straps.

  Syrakynn shifted, ready to lift off and the horses shied back. The Defenders had to work to keep the animals under control. Kirynn laughed. “You really need to stop looking at the horses like you want to eat them, it makes them too nervous,” she sent.

  “But I do want to eat them. Surely there is one somewhere that isn’t wanted,” the red sent back.

  “I doubt anyone is going to offer one of their horses up for a meal.”

  The dragon huffed and eyed the horses again. Kirynn shook her head. Sometimes the red was impossible.

  The other riders and their dragons stood around them. Her eyes drifted across Kellinar, Serena, Taela, Mckale, Maleena, and the new riders. Her companions and greatest friends. Her gaze lingered on their faces and their dragons. When would she see them again? What did the future hold? Sadness tightened her chest for a moment. If things didn’t go well…would she ever see them again?

  “We are ready,” came Syrakynn’s sending.

  Namir lifted off with Syrakynn right behind him. They only climbed a short way before the Slide spun open like a whirlpool of heat waves in the air, opening slowly until it reached the ground. The Defenders led the horses through as the dragons moved into it. The world swirled into indistinct colors and then warm night enveloped them. The sparkling black blanket of the sky stretch from horizon to horizon.

  Syrakynn landed and Kirynn undid the straps then leaped off to take the horses. Namir held the Slide open and passed back through so the Defenders could go back to Galdrilene. It only took a few seconds before he reemerged and landed next to the red. Kirynn untied her zahri from her horse’s saddle.