City of Ice (24 page)

Behind them, Taqqiq barked an order and the chamber cleared as the clan warriors began to fan out through the tunnels that were available.

“We're going to go after Roland now,” Leech said.

Roxanna spoke as if she were biting out the words: “Get him.”

The smoke swirled within the pool. “Yes, hearing he's dead would be the best cure for me,” Upach burbled.

“And come back safe,” Roxanna urged.

“We will,” Leech promised, and returned with Scirye to Bayang and Koko.

The fox guide waited until the soldiers had gone ahead and then took them through a corridor on one side of the chamber. Three wolves and a bear accompanied them just in case. As they walked, their escorts continued to turn their heads, checking corners and testing the air. Their presence comforted Leech, who had seen how well the clan fought.

The party moved through a series of tunnels, which grew progressively smaller. In some places, the ice worms had not roused yet, so Leech pulled back his glove so the Dancer could cast its faint light.

Eventually, they had to leave the bear behind when they were reduced to crawling on their hands and knees. As the roughly finished walls closed in, they scraped their shoulders and bumped their heads. The passage began to tilt upward, and their progress slowed because they kept slipping, for they didn't have the moss on their gloves and knees.

They finally came to a passage that tapered so much the wolves had to stop. Here they had to wriggle upward on their bellies like snakes.

But the fit was so tight that Bayang's scales rasped against the ice and she gave a gasp, as the tunnel must have pressed against her injured wing.

The last thirty feet, the passage had deliberately been left free of worms so there would be no telltale glow on the surface, and Leech was told to keep the Dancer hidden as a precaution. The darkness made the boy feel as if the glacier would crush him at any moment. He heard the howling winds outside dimly now, sounding like dying ghosts.

Bayang, who was just behind their guide, stopped and flicked her tail as she whispered a warning: “We're near the entrance. Pass the word.”

Leech was next and had not realized she had halted and got a slap in the face with the tail tip. “Careful with the caboose,” he said, and then sent the word to Scirye, who was the fourth in line.

The clan had left a thin sheet of ice covering the entrance so it would look the same as the rest of the glacier. That meant that they had to lie still now while they waited for the lead fox to dig through the ice. Their guide's claws scraped rapidly against the surface.

That was the hardest part of their journey. As long as Leech had been moving, he hadn't thought about the darkness, but now that he could only lie there with the confining walls squeezing his arms against his sides, he felt as if he were suffocating, as if he were being buried alive in a coffin of ice. He could barely keep himself from screaming at the fox to hurry.

It seemed to take forever until the first wisp of cold air slipped through the tunnel from the opening the fox had made. Leech waited with growing impatience as their guide widened the hole.

Trying to distract himself, he made himself think about his friend Primo. Brave, kind Primo. When they had first met, Leech felt as if he had known Primo all his life. He had died all too soon, but Leech treasured their friendship. He'd been happy and, more important, he'd felt safe for the first time in a very difficult and insecure life.

Finally Bayang whispered, “It's open. Let's go.”

Her hide grated on the ice as she slid upward, and Leech scrabbled eagerly after her. Since it was night up above, his eyes couldn't tell him when he had reached the surface. He was just suddenly aware that he was no longer being tightly gripped by tunnel walls. And then he crawled out of a hole in the front of the glacier and slid onto the frozen Arctic Ocean itself.

It was nighttime again. The tunnel led to a spot in the glacier a few yards above the sea surface. The face of the glacier rose a hundred yards above them like a crystal cliff, gleaming in the moonlight.

“Up you go,” Scirye said, helping to pull him out of the tunnel.

Despite the magical charm protecting him, the first blast of cold made him gasp. Winds howled all around him, tearing at his clothes. Against the snow and in the dimness, he barely saw the fox scout casting about for a trace of Roland's trail. And the shimmering cloud around Bayang meant she was already swelling to a size capable of taking on Badik again.

Even though Koko was panting when he emerged, he still had enough breath to complain. “If Heaven wanted me to live in a burrow, it wouldn't have made Frisco.” He collapsed on the snow-covered ice. “Give me cement and asphalt any day.”

Leech stood, stretching the kinks out of his legs, anxious to be on the go after their icy confinement. “A little fresh air won't kill you.”

“Yeah, it's the other critters breathing it that will,” Kles griped.

Bayang stretched her forelegs in front of her like a cat. “Ah, this is a much more proper size.” She turned to Scirye. “While we're waiting for a report, let's unfold the wing. We ought to be ready before we summon Naue.”

Scirye took out the bundle, removed the covering, and stowed that back inside her clothes before she handed the wing to the dragon.

As Bayang unfolded it efficiently, Leech felt the irresistible desire to be up in the air away from the glacier. “I'll scout around too,” he said as he pulled the disks off the iron ring.

“You should wait here,” the dragon said, and then sighed. “But I don't suppose I can stop you.”

Leech couldn't help noticing the change in phrasing. In the past, she would have ordered him to stay put. But now she seemed to be treating him more like an equal. “I only promised to follow your orders inside the palace. We're outside now.” He grinned as he worked the spell on the disks.

“Don't take any unnecessary risks,” Bayang said. “If you see Roland and Badik, come back and fetch us.”

Leech could feel the sky pulling him. “Will you quit fussing like a wet hen?” The need to escape the ice and be free was irresistible. He jumped upon the rings and began to rise.

He didn't care how cold the winds were, he felt like laughing now. The sky was where he belonged, not plodding through the snow, not trapped in ice. His body instinctively adjusted for the pushing and pulling of the air currents.

He circled over his friends below. He felt the Dancer tickling his wrist, and when he looked at it he saw the ribbon was wriggling—as if it was as happy to be in the air as he was.

“I'll come back as soon as I spot them,” he promised Bayang. Then, with a cheery wave, he swooped down to skim along the surface, rising and falling to its undulations.

In the moonlight, a fox's tracks looked like rows of neat little stitches on a white shirt and Leech followed them until he saw the fuzzy fox. Because the newly fallen snow was loosely packed and her legs were short, she moved along in a bobbing motion.

“Which way to Nova Hafnia?” Leech asked, reasoning that Roland was most likely going to take a direct route there.

The fox rose on her haunches and pointed.

“Thanks,” Leech said, and headed that way, feeling almost as if he were drunk as he zipped along.

His eyes were scanning his surroundings for any sign of Roland when the ice ahead of Leech suddenly exploded. Crouching, he weaved and dodged the falling lumps of ice. He was still thirty feet away from the opening when Badik's head thrust out of the water and he flung himself toward the jagged edge of the hole. About a foot of the crust broke under his weight, but the rest of it held and he crawled out of the water.

Roland was clinging to his back and water rilled downward from the pair.

Leech remembered his promise to Bayang, but as he circled, getting ready to return to the glacier, he saw Roland frantically re-loading his revolver. Maybe this was their chance to knock him out while he couldn't fire.

Don't wait,
the voice urged.
You'll never have a better chance.

Taking off his other armband, Leech changed it into a weapon as he executed a loop and headed back. As he picked up speed, he felt a fierce exultation.

Yes, take care of them first and then the dragon,
the voice whispered to him.

Who are you?
Leech asked the voice.
What did you mean when you said that you were me?

I'm you, the first Lee No Cha,
the voice snickered.

Startled, Leech lurched, almost piling into the snow, but righted himself in time. He remembered what Bayang had told him about that Lee No Cha: how he had killed a dragon prince and then skinned him and turned part of his hide into a belt.

Did you really murder a dragon?
Leech asked.

He had it coming,
the voice said defiantly.

Leech felt his horror and revulsion grow.
And then you skinned him.

I needed a present for my father,
the voice answered defensively.

Well, I'm not that way now,
Leech told the voice.
So go away.

I'm just trying to save you, you fool,
the voice told him petulantly.

Well, if you don't shut up now, you'll get us killed,
Leech ordered the voice. Gratefully, the whispering stopped.

Roland hadn't seen him yet. Instead, Roland twisted around and pointed his pistol at the ocean. A second later, a narwhal horn stabbed out of the choppy water and a slick, domed head peered out. The narwhal disappeared before Roland fired. The bullet sent spray upward. Another horn rose and a different narwhal bobbed to the surface. Again Roland missed.

A sea otter scrabbled out of the hole. Then a second and a third. However, their short legs floundered in the snow that covered the ice. Still more came in a determined dark, furry wave—far more little warriors than Roland had bullets for. So wheeling around, Badik began to gallop away. There was no way the otters could keep up with a dragon on their stubby legs.

So Leech would have to fight in the otters' place. Lifting the ring above his head, legs crouching, muscles tensing for a blow, he sped to intercept them. Badik saw him and snarled, “It's one of those brats again.”

“We'll get rid of one of them at least,” Roland snapped.

When he saw Roland raise his pistol, Leech jinked back and forth through the air, wondering just how many shots Roland had. The boy had heard of some guns that held as many as eight shots.

A shot whizzed by his ear. He banked sharply to his left and the next missed him by a wide margin. He executed a roll that now had him charging toward Badik's flank.

Roland took aim. He was smiling.

Leech rocked from side to side like a pendulum, making himself a more difficult target.

Roland's bullet zipped past him a little closer than the boy would have liked.

If only it were snowing, he could use that as cover.

Fool, make your own snow,
the voice said to him.

The last thing he wanted to do was listen to the voice, but he had no choice. And at least this suggestion from it was practical rather than bloodthirsty.

He darted downward, skimming just inches above the surface.
Faster,
he told himself.
Faster.
He heard the hiss behind him and saw snow spraying upward in his wake.

He zigged and zagged crazily, keeping one eye out for any rises and raising a white curtain that hung in the air. He could barely see his enemies as silhouettes, and if that was so, they would be having the same trouble. A shot went wide of its mark. So his artificial snowfall was working.

He tried to be unpredictable when he changed directions, but he always kept narrowing the gap toward the faint outlines of dragon and rider until he was on them and swinging the ring. The Dancer was squeezing his wrist tight with fright now.

In the last moment, though, Badik swerved to his left, at the same time whipping his tail around.

It was like being hit by a scale-covered club the size of a tree. The frozen sea whirled around Leech as he spun out of control through the air and into the snow.

And into the darkness.

They all gave a jump when they heard the explosion several miles away. Spray and ice rose into the night as fluffy and delicate as a waving feather.

Bayang started to rise when she remembered she was anchoring the unfolded straw wing. “Roland's surfaced,” she said excitedly.

Koko scanned the horizon anxiously. “But where's Leech?”

Bayang had been uneasy the moment he had flown off, and her apprehensions had only increased with every second he was gone. It would be just like the overconfident little fool to take on Roland and Badik by himself instead of retreating.

She thought of Leech, alone and outmatched, facing their enemies without her, and she felt a terrible fear twisting her insides. Why? It wasn't her fault. She'd tried to warn him, but the little idiot would break his promise to her. And yet her anxiety had made her as taut as a bowstring.

The sooner they got to him the better. “It's time to call Naue.”

Scirye scanned the heavens as she scratched her head. “Did he tell us how?”

Too late, Bayang realized it too. “No, he didn't. He rushed off in such a hurry that I forgot to ask.”

Koko shook his clenched paw at the sky. “You big, worthless airbag! Why didn't you tell us something important like that?”

“We could try calling his name.” Tilting her head back, Bayang began shouting to Naue. The others joined in.

When nothing happened after several minutes, Koko stamped a hind paw. “Aw, we can't wait for that blowhard. We got to get to Leech on our own.”

The top of the glacier seemed so very far away to Bayang. “We need some height to launch the wing ourselves.” She tried to unfurl her injured wing, and the agony lanced through her.

Concerned, Scirye said, “You can't fly with that bad wing of yours.” She tried to get a grip on the icy surface and could not. “But you and Koko might be able to climb up there with your claws. And maybe I could hold on to your back.”

Time was the problem. They never seemed to have enough. “Climbing would take too long.” Even as they discussed what to do, Leech might be dying. Wincing, Bayang forced her bad wing to open. “I think I can stand the pain long enough to carry you and the wing up there.”

Kles coughed. “You'll pardon me for saying this, but I beg to differ. At the moment, you look dreadful, and you haven't even tried to use your wings yet.”

“I can't sit around while Leech could be in trouble.” Bayang crouched, hooking her claws into the straw surface. “Hop on.”

Fear for his friend had overcome his usual fear of danger, so Koko was the first to scramble up on the dragon's back. Scirye followed while Kles rose into the air, circling a little to the side.

Bayang brought her wings down and tried not to gasp at the stabbing pain. With every beat after that, the ache spread from her wing through her shoulder. The top of the glacier seemed an impossibly long way off, but she told herself not to think like that. Instead, she concentrated on the next wing stroke, the next breath.

A worried Kles fluttered near her head. “Go back while you can.”

The foot of the glacier looked just as far away as the top, and Bayang was not sure she could break her descent once she started. “I think it's already too late for that,” the dragon puffed.

“Of course you can reach it,” Scirye urged, and then scolded her griffin. “Don't distract her, Kles.”

Yes, this is my penance for all the harm I've done Leech,
Bayang told herself. Faces flashed through her memory of his other lives, young faces, frightened faces. And they merged into Leech's face as he was now in this life. Scared not of her but of Roland and Badik. Alone. A novice at flying and fighting with a ring he barely knew how to use. Battling with more courage than sense or skill. They would make short work of him unless she could stop them.

She had to go on. It didn't matter that they were of two different species. And so what if he insulted her? Or if he eventually despised her one day. She had to protect him. It would not make up for everything in the past, but it would be a start. She would save his silly little hide no matter what the cost.

Clenching her teeth, Bayang drove herself upward yard by yard until her eyes were level with the glacier's top. By now, her back and chest were hurting as well.

Another yard. She had already asked too much of her tortured wing. She couldn't keep from giving a little groan.

Through the red cloud of agony that filled her mind, she heard Scirye say, “Leech needs us.”

She thought of Badik looming over a helpless Leech, and she forced herself up another yard, her body on fire.

Suddenly there was no shining crystal wall in front of her, only open air. She had reached the top. Through the haze, she dropped the straw wing onto the snow-covered ice. As much as she wanted to collapse, she had to move farther on or she might crush the wing. Somehow she managed ten more yards before she skidded along the glacier, piling up the snow in front of her and exposing a wide strip of ice behind her.