“Far enough, if you don’t like flying.” Pa shrugged. “You know, one of our dragon masters used to get terribly flight sick. As a trainee, the Master Archer, Jerrick, had no stomach for heights. He even barfed from dragonback once.” Pa swigged from the waterskin.
“Thanks, Pa. Good to know.” Just the thought made Tomaaz queasy.
Closing the waterskin, Pa cocked his head. “Jerrick overcame it.”
Tomaaz paused. “How?”
“His friend Alfonso teased him, saying he’d jumped off his dragon to conquer his fear, but we could never get Jerrick to confirm or deny.” Hans chuckled. “I can introduce you to him when we get to Dragons’ Hold. Maybe he’ll tell you his secret.”
When we get to Dragons’ Hold, not if. Interesting. So, Pa was certain they’d get out of Death Valley. Tomaaz had no idea how. From what Lovina had told him, Death Valley was like a fortress—difficult to penetrate and even harder to escape from.
“Any more news about Ma? Have you or Handel had any more visions?”
Face grim, Pa studied him at length, then said, “Yes, I saw her last night.”
§
Hans hesitated. There was no point in alarming his son, but there was no point in lying either. In his vision, he’d seen Zens beating Marlies. She’d been in bad shape. Then he’d seen Tomaaz carrying Marlies’ limp body. His throat constricted. He couldn’t tell if she was alive or dead.
Death Valley was going to be harrowing. Tomaaz would see things that would haunt him for years. But it was worth it to save Marlies. He sighed and passed his son the waterskin. “Drink well; this may be the last untainted water you get for a while. Zens puts numlock in the water supply and in slaves’ food.”
Shards, what was he doing, taking his own son to Death Valley? Was he mad? The visions he’d had last night—and Handel’s—confirmed this was the right course. He hated sending his son into the jaws of the wolf. The thing was, he hadn’t seen himself in any visions. “Handel, if we’re wrong, I’ll lose my family.”
“I know it’s been years, but you used to trust our visions. You will lose Marlies, if Tomaaz doesn’t go.”
“And me?” Hans replied. “What role do I play?”
“I see nothing. No vision.” Handel sent him a mental shrug.
His chest pinched. What if he lost Tomaaz and Marlies? Hans pulled out Ana’s velvet pouch. Maybe Marlies wasn’t in danger yet. Maybe it was yet to happen.
“I’d forgotten all about Ana’s gift. What’s in it?” Tomaaz asked.
Hans extracted some folded brown paper, opening it to reveal dried auburn berries.
“Clear-mind berries,” Tomaaz blurted.
“If we eat them, the numlock won’t affect us.”
“But surely Zens will be able to tell.”
“Yes, because our eyes won’t have the gray sheen that Lovina’s did, but …” Hans fished in the pouch again and pulled out a vial of gray powder. “Dragon’s scale. A pinch of this should make your eyes and fingernails gray, then all we’ll have to do is act slow and witless.”
Tomaaz snorted. “About now, Lofty would be laughing, telling me I’m witless enough already.”
Hans cricked his neck and forced himself to chuckle. “Check your fingernails regularly. Take more dragon’s scale as soon as they start pinking. Don’t forget. Your life depends upon it.”
And Marlies’ life.
Face earnest again, Tomaaz nodded.
“The biggest challenge will be to find Ma and get her out.” Hans said, not mentioning the hundreds of tharuks at Zens’ command. “We’ll slip into the valley together, if we can, then join work teams and find out where your mother is. I don’t like to say this, Son, but it might be best to split up.” Pa passed him a clear oval stone with pointed ends.
“A calling stone …” Tomaaz eyes widened. “They’re real?”
“They sure are. If we’re separated, we’ll talk each day at sunset. Just hold the stone in your palm, rub the surface and think of me. We’ll be able to mind-meld across distances.”
Tomaaz swallowed. “And if I’m caught?”
Hans gave him a grim smile. “Then I’ll have to save you.”
A Rude Awakening
Marlies heard muffled scrapes at the cavern mouth. Hans was here. She’d been dreaming of him and Handel streaking through the sky to save her. It must’ve been a rare prophecy, a vision.
“Hans?” she croaked, throat dry.
Boots struck the stone. She pushed herself to sit. A dark figure blocked the light at the cave.
“Hans, I—”
“Found you,” a voice growled.
Marlies gasped. It wasn’t Hans but a tharuk towering over her. She grasped her knife, but a furry hand closed over hers and squeezed until she dropped it.
The beast sniffed at her. “We’ve found the female Zens wanted,” it called.
A smaller tharuk entered the cave. “Good. That makes up for losing the big male.”
Could they mean Giant John?
“Pack this up,” the large tharuk ordered. “Zens wants this one with belongings.”
The wiry tharuk limped over to Marlies, and shoved all of her gear and weapons into her rucksack, while the big tharuk yanked her to her feet.
Although her arm was still in agony, it was better than before. Still, Marlies cried out. If she showed she was injured and weak, they’d think she wasn’t a threat.
Soon she was outside, draped over the big beast’s shoulder, her face pressed into its stinking fur. No wonder they’d found her. The snow was churned and splattered in blood all the way to her cave. It was amazing she hadn’t been found earlier.
Marlies bobbed up and down as the beast strode along. At least she didn’t have to walk to Death Valley herself now. Eventually, the motion of the tharuk’s gait sent her back to sleep.
§
At dusk,
