City of Ice (23 page)

Scirye's hands had flown to her mouth to stifle her cry of alarm as Bayang lay sprawled on top of the inert Badik. Then Badik gave a moan and Bayang reared her head, jaws stretching open, fangs ready to bite Badik's exposed throat.

The next moment, Scirye caught the motion from the corner of her eye. She whirled around in time to see Roland emerging from the huge bulge on the giant Tisheruk's side. Roland had squirmed out past his shoulders and in one hand was a knife and in the other was a golden sphere the size of a softball.

Too late, she realized how he had fooled them. Roland had hidden inside the bump instead of a parasite, perhaps using some spells to force his way under the monster's hide and let him breathe. While they had been distracted by the battle between the two dragons, he had used the knife to rip an opening in the skin.

“I'm here,” Roland hollered. Flinging an arm up over his eyes, he tossed the globe toward the two dragons.

Even as the object descended, Badik heaved Bayang off him.

And then there was a flash as brilliant as the sun. Everyone's eyes, especially the animals', would have adjusted for the dim illumination of the lanterns. Light as bright as that would blind and daze everyone temporarily.

Scirye stood there stunned with all the others, unable to see, only hear. Wings flapped overhead as Kles flew about wildly. She heard a thump as Leech crashed against the floor.

There was the sound of flesh ripping as Roland widened the opening with his knife. “You've given me a lot of trouble for a beast, Resak,” he announced. “So I'll take your head as well as your staff. And then I'll take care of the dragon and her brats.”

“To me, children, to me,” Resak roared, attempting to rally his warriors. “Use your noses and not your eyes.”

Growling and snarling, the clan warriors began to sniff the air loudly as they tried to protect their lord.

Amid the frantic noises, she barely heard Roland's knife clatter on the ice. Straining her ears in that direction, she just made out the ominous click of a hammer being drawn back on a revolver. She could have cried in frustration. Roland would kill Uncle Resak before anyone could stop him.

Then Scirye heard Roxanna shout, “Upach, stop him!”

There was only one of Scirye's companions who would not have been dazzled by the light, and that was the ifrit who never depended on her eyes.

The scent of smoke tickled Scirye's nostrils as the ifrit raced past to intercept Roland. Scirye was just starting to cheer the ifrit on when she heard the crack of a revolver and Upach cried out.

“Do you think I'd use ordinary bullets?” Roland's mocking tone turned to incredulity. “What?” He fired a second and then a third. “Why won't you die?”

Apparently, the ifrit was still trying to obey Roxanna's orders.

Two more shots followed.

“I'm sorry, mis—,” Upach began, but her voice faded away.

Roxanna's voice was full of rage and grief: “Upach!”

Roland's revolver cracked a sixth time, and this time it was Uncle Resak grunting in pain. A moment later there was a heavy thud. Despite the clan warriors encircling their lord, Roland had been able to hit Resak after finishing off the loyal ifrit.

Rage overcame all else and claws clacked on the ice as the clan warriors charged toward the spot where Roland had fired his pistol. Even Scirye ignored the danger to herself and stumbled toward where she had heard Uncle Resak fall.

She was nearly knocked off her feet by one furry body. Just as she was regaining her balance, a paw swished by her ear. Desperate to avenge Uncle Resak, the clan warriors were mindlessly attacking whoever was next to them. She was in danger of being trampled or clawed to death.

All around her were howls of rage and pain as the warriors cuffed and bit one another, more of a threat to one another than to Roland.

Scirye's heart sank when she heard him shout in triumph, “I've got it.” In the confusion, Roland had slipped through the warriors and taken his prize. Already his voice was moving away as he fled. “Badik,” he panted, “turn eighty degrees. The tunnel will be straight ahead. Clear the way for me.”

The next instant came the noise of Badik's body crushing anyone who got in his way, whether they were his human allies or the warriors of the clan. The thumps of colliding bodies mixed with yelps and yells of pain.

Roland's boots scraped the ice as he followed the dragon. Scirye pivoted and raced toward the sound. “He's getting away,” she hollered.

“Badik, duck your head,” Roland instructed his dragon. “The tunnel mouth's almost in front of you.”

“Don't leave us, Mr. Roland,” a freebooter hollered in English.

“You've outlived your usefulness,” Roland taunted, his voice reverberating already from the tunnel.

“But you promised to help us take back Nova Hafnia,” the freebooter protested.

There was a thunderous blast, and Scirye felt the burst of warm air and thought she could smell an even heavier whiff of gunpowder than that from the gunshots as ice crashed and tumbled onto the floor. Roland must have used a grenade to block pursuit.

“Kles, Kles,” Scirye called urgently.

She heard the flutter of wings. “Here,” Kles said, and when she raised an arm she felt the griffin's welcome weight. “But I can't see.”

Kles crawled up her arm tentatively, testing each inch before he moved on. When she put a hand out to steady him, she could feel how he was trembling. He was her brave one, the smart one, the dignified one. However, the sudden loss of his sight had scared him, so she stroked him as she would a frightened kitten. His tiny tongue tickled when he licked her palm in gratitude.

When his small body had stilled a little, she shouted out again, “Bayang? Uncle Resak? Upach?”

“I'm all right,” the dragon panted in pain, “but Badik got away while my eyes were dazzled by that flash of light.”

“Calm yourself, little cub,” Uncle Resak reassured her as well. But his words were strained. “He only hit me in the shoulder, but it hurt enough to make me lose my grip on my staff. It's really Yi's bow. Lord Yü himself gave it to me.”

“So you did have part of Yi's weapon,” Bayang said.

“But your staff was straight up and down,” Leech said. “And it was so thick.”

Remembering her archery lesson in Paris, Scirye said, “Maybe the ring makes the archer strong enough to bend it. Roland could string it then.”

“I wish you'd told us,” Bayang said in an accusing tone.

“I've guarded that secret even more than the location of my palace,” Uncle Resak gruffed. “Not even my children knew. Do you expect me to tell strangers?”

“Upach?” Roxanna called out suddenly. The fear and worry were plain. Scirye had felt those same emotions when she hadn't known what had happened to Kles.

But Upach made no answer.

“Will someone help me find my servant?” Roxanna pleaded so plaintively that it nearly broke Scirye's heart.

Tears running freely down her cheeks, Scirye began to shuffle forward, hands groping for…what? The ifrit was smoke. Still Scirye stumbled on, adding her voice to Roxanna's: “Upach?”

“No hollering.” Upach's voice was as thin as a wisp as she strained to talk. “It's undignified. I won't stand for it, you hear?”

As Scirye headed toward the sound, she heard the noise of another muffled explosion. Roland must have detonated another grenade to block the tunnel farther along the route. He was taking no chances. Despite their best efforts, he had escaped. And with each second he was getting farther and farther away from justice.

Scirye moved toward the location of the ifrit's voice. First she'd take care of her friends. Then she'd take care of Roland.

And at their next encounter, she wouldn't underestimate him.

It took several minutes before Leech could make out blurred shapes, but once that happened his vision seemed to clear rapidly. He was grateful that the ice worms had begun glowing once more, though as yet the light in the chamber was still a soft twilight, but the Dancer was flashing and squeezing his wrist. Was it frightened again?

He slipped his fingers under his glove so he could pet it soothingly as he called out, “Koko?”

“Right here, buddy.” Koko was shuffling toward him. “So that's what it's like to see lightning up close and personal,” Koko said, blinking his eyes rapidly as he tried to clear them. “It's hard on the peepers.”

With Koko's help, Leech stood up. He was relieved to see that Uncle Resak was breathing. Bayang was sitting up on her haunches as she waited for her vision to come back, but except for her damaged wing, she seemed to be all right.

Kles was blinking his eyes rapidly as if trying to clear his vision while he sat upon Scirye's shoulder, but Scirye herself seemed to have already recovered some of her eyesight and so had Roxanna—enough of it anyway to try to help Upach, who was a couple of yards away from the bear-man.

The two girls knelt, patting at the ifrit's smoky body, trying to keep the small tan-colored cloud from dissipating. Within it were five dark blunt shapes that might have been the bullets.

Upach extended a smoky ribbon and feebly tried to push Roxanna's hands away. “I won't stand for this fuss, you hear? You know how upset your tummy gets when you worry like this. And then who is it who has to clean up the mess?”

“Oh, be quiet, you old worrywart. You're more important than my digestion,” Roxanna scolded, trying to blink back her tears. “I'm going to take care of you for a change. So don't you die. I won't stand for it, you hear. I won't.”

The ifrit appealed to Leech, who had stumbled over to the two girls. “Sir, she'll listen to you. Make her stop. I won't have my little chick sad.”

Leech shook his head. “I'm sorry, but I have to agree with Roxanna. You're like her right hand.” And he joined them in trying to keep the smoke together. A moment later, his joints popping, Koko added his paws to the rescue attempt.

“I won't put up with it,” Upach grumbled, and tried again to shove Roxanna away, but she was even weaker now. Fast losing her ability to stay together, the ribbon broke apart.

“I think she kept trying to get Roland even after she was hurt,” Roxanna said tearfully. “That's why she's so close to Uncle Resak. Because she kept coming, Roland rushed things. His shot missed any vital spot on Uncle Resak, but Roland didn't dare wait long enough to finish killing Uncle. He just wanted to steal his treasure and leave.” She twisted around suddenly. “Please, Lady Scirye. Ask Nana to save Upach.”

Scirye's hands paused in mid-air and Leech saw his friend break out in a cold sweat. She must have been scared of asking the goddess for anything else. “I would if I could, but Nanaia doesn't listen to me. I'm just her tool. You wouldn't care what a pair of pliers thinks.”

“You're her chosen one,” Roxanna begged. “I saw her statue move. And she warned you in the dream.”

“Yes,” Scirye said, “but I never know when she's going to do something like that.” She saw the wretched expression on Roxanna's face. “Well, if she won't do it as a favor to me, maybe I can make her see that it's in her own interests.”

Closing her eyes, she screwed her eyebrows together in intense concentration and held out her hands.

“Please don't get annoyed,” she pleaded. “Roxanna and Upach are your faithful servants and my friends. They're helping me in my quest. I need them if you want me to carry out your plan.”

When nothing happened, she opened her eyes again. “I'm sorry. She does what she wants.”

Leech's eyes cleared just in time to see despair replace hope on Roxanna's face.

Her shoulders slumped. “I don't understand. I saw the miracle. And then she saved us from Amagjat.”

“I don't understand either,” Scirye confessed helplessly. Tears squeezed out of the corners of her eyes and froze midway down her cheeks.

Roxanna turned back to Upach. While she had been distracted begging Scirye's help, her servant's body began to thin out and dissipate. Frantically, Roxanna tried to gather the escaping streamers and fan them together. “Then Upach…” Her voice broke.

Leech gave a start when he felt something extra cold and wet wrapping itself around his leg. Had Roland left behind one more bit of mischief, some sort of monster with tentacles? Puzzled, Leech glanced down and saw the streamer of mist that snaked across the floor from the blocked tunnel. A team of bears was working frantically there to clear it, heaving blocks of ice recklessly in every direction. Heat from the explosion had created a pool of water.

“Upach, could you hold your shape in water?” Leech asked.

“Better than in air,” she said. The voice was barely above a whisper now.

“There's a puddle over there,” Leech pointed.

The girls glanced toward it.

“What if it freezes?” Roxanna asked. “What would happen to you then?”

“I don't know,” Upach confessed.

“You won't be any worse off than you are now,” Koko argued. “And maybe you'll go into hibernation until Dr. Goldemar comes to help.”

Together the badger and children guided the ifrit forward with gentle waves of their hands, but the cloud was much smaller by the time they reached the pool.

A large chunk of ice crashed nearby, smashing into bits. A startled bear waved an apologetic paw and then gestured for them to leave.

Roxanna ignored him, flapping her hands to create a breeze that blew Upach right over the wide, shallow pool. Small wedges of ice were already forming on the surface, but Upach slipped through the cracks and flowed like dark milk through the water. A moment later, they saw the flattened shape of the ifrit. She was now about six feet long and four feet wide but only a few inches thick.

Bubbles rose above the mouth. “Ah, that feels good,” the ifrit burbled.

“Let me see the bullets,” Roxanna said. “Forgive me, Upach.” Reaching into the pool, Roxanna thrust her hand into her servant. She hesitated for only a second when Upach moaned. “I'm sorry,” the girl said, and carefully extracted one. “It's silver and enchanted,” she said, holding it up so they could all see the tiny runes and magical signs scratched into its sides.

Roxanna repeated the operation, blinking back tears as her faithful Upach groaned in pain. She did this three more times before she sat back, shoulders sagging.

“Oh, much better.” Upach sighed in relief. Her voice had already grown stronger again. “Thank you, my girl. I think I'll be all right in a little bit.”

Roxanna tapped the nearest bear, who turned impatiently. “My friend is in there. Please don't throw any ice into the pool.”

He glanced downward, and when he understood he nodded. Then he said something to the other bears, who also bobbed their heads in comprehension.

On the way to the pool, Leech had noticed a discarded blowtorch—perhaps one of those that had been used to drive another of the Tizheruks. Leech fetched it and a small waterproof tin of matches next to it. When he handed it to Roxanna, the girl lit the blowtorch and kept it at a low flame, moving it carefully so it just brushed the surface and did not touch Upach. “I think we'll be all right now.” She even managed to smile. “See to Bayang. And thank you.”

When the children approached the dragon, she was alternately wiping her eyes and blinking them as she tried to focus.

“How are you feeling?” Scirye asked.

Bayang turned her head toward the girl. “Better.”

“If you don't,” Koko teased, “I can always get you a great job as a carousel animal.”

Bayang held up her paw in warning. “Koko, I insist that you stay on my left.” Then she nodded to her right. “And Scirye, Leech, stand over here. I don't want that fuzzbag to be the first thing I see.”

If the dragon could joke—at least Leech thought she was making one—then she was probably going to survive. Though her scales were scored in a dozen places, her cuts were already beginning to scab over. Bayang was one tough old dragon. She'd soon be ready for the next round.

After a short while, she squeezed her eyelids tight and then opened them. “Yes, I can see shapes now. What about Uncle Resak?”

Leech looked over to where the clan warriors huddled about their leader. An elderly woman was shaving a patch of fur from Uncle Resak's shoulder by the bright light shed from a big ice block filled with worms. The healer had both an open modern medical kit as well as the friendly but no-nonsense attitude of any doctor in San Francisco. Leech realized that one of the first human things the clan would embrace was modern medicine, especially when it came to treating gunshot wounds.

Leech didn't know if the healer knew how to treat ifrits, but maybe she would try later.

Uncle Resak was growling to Taqqiq, who was sitting faithfully next to his lord. “We must go after the thieves.”

“Quiet, if you please, Lord.” The healer wiped the bare patch on Uncle Resak with cotton that she had dipped in alcohol.

“It can't wait,” Uncle Resak said.

With a grunt, the doctor plunged a hypodermic into Uncle Resak.

Taqqiq dipped his head submissively, but he insisted, “You are in no shape to chase them, Uncle. And the ways to the gate are blocked. It will take a while to clear the tunnel.”

Uncle Resak tried to slam a paw against the ice, but the drug was already taking effect, so he merely slapped the surface. “But he stole Yi's bow,” Uncle Resak protested sleepily.

Bayang winced as she struggled upright on her paws. “Even if Roland has the bow and string and the archer's ring, he doesn't have the arrows yet.”

“We should have gone to the City of Death in the first place,” Scirye said regretfully. “He'll get there ahead of us in his airplane.”

Bayang padded across the ice, moving slowly at first but picking up speed. “But he still has to get to it. He couldn't have it land too close before the attack because that might tip us off. And if it comes to flying, we have that straw wing from the Cloud Folk.”

“Well, Roland might have radioed it just before the attack began,” Kles reasoned. “He could have set up a time and place to meet that way. But he still needs to swim out of here and then break through the ice. And after that, he'll have to get to the rendezvous.”

Uncle Resak jerked upward as the doctor probed the wound for the bullet. When he settled back, he kept his eyes closed. “So we have a chance to stop them,” Uncle Resak said, hissing with the pain. “There are other routes to the surface.”

“Those are only for the fox scouts.” Taqqiq's tail thumped on the ice as he thought out loud. “It's possible that wolf cubs might make it through, but it would take as long to widen them for adult wolves as it would to clear the main tunnels.”

Bayang tapped her talons together as she scanned the ceiling. “Could human children get through the escape tunnels?”

Uncle Resak fought to keep his eyes open. “Yes—though it might be a tight squeeze in parts. You're way too big, dragon.”

“I can shrink to their size,” Bayang replied.

Koko groaned and wriggled his shoulders as if trying to shake off the soreness. “Have a heart. I ache in muscles I never knew I had. We've done our part. Let someone else take up the chase.”

Bayang regarded the badger. “For most of my life, I never got to ask if what I did was good or bad. But I know it would be wrong to let Roland have his way.”

Leech had never liked the dragon more than at that moment. In a way, Bayang reminded Leech of himself in the orphanage. All the children were supposed to do chores, but the others had usually skipped the unpleasant ones—so Leech had done them. It wasn't because someone had bullied him into performing someone else's work either. He had seen that the tasks were necessary ones, so he had done them, ignoring his own feelings. Bayang had been cut from the same cloth. So had Scirye, in fact, which was why he liked her as well.

Of course, the cut had not been perfect with all of his friends.

Koko squinted at the dragon. “Life's a lot easier when you ignore your conscience, you know.” When the others just looked at him, the badger said, “Okay, okay. I give up. But when they build statues to us, there'd better be someone keeping the pigeons off me.”

“I wouldn't worry,” Kles sniffed. “Even pigeons have their standards.”

“Show them the tun—,” Lord Resak began, and fell unconscious.

Taqqiq waved a forepaw and called an Arctic fox scout over with a sharp bark.

As the wolf gave the fox concise directions, Bayang worked the spell that shrank her to the size of the children. Even though she had been that same height on the straw wing, it still seemed strange to Leech to be at eye level with her.

The dragon looked away quickly as if she, too, found her change in perspective odd. “Now let's go.”

“Wait,” Taqqiq commanded. “There may still be some of Roland's vermin skulking about. We're going to check the entire palace and make sure it's clear. Let a search party go ahead of you in case there are any surprises along the route.”

The clan warriors were circling among one another and baying and yelping, working themselves up before they began the search. The bears, who had been assigned to the hunt, were roaring, standing on their hind legs, and rocking from one paw to another.

Leaving Koko to see to Bayang, Leech and Scirye sidled through the warriors and back to Roxanna. “There's a healer tending to Uncle Resak. She might be able to do something for Upach,” Leech suggested.

Roxanna nodded gratefully at the suggestion. “At least, until I get word to my father to send Dr. Goldemar.”