Inara stepped in beside Vighon, their proximity notably closer than any other pair in the tent. “I touched the tree,” she announced. “It did not harm me in any way.”
“Has anyone returned to the tree?” Asher queried.
“A couple of times,” Gideon answered. “The fire continues to spread. The entire realm looks to be crumbling around the tree.”
Asher could feel his heart quickening as his concern for Avandriell bubbled over. “How do we stop it?” he demanded, driven by fear.
Gideon, who had just as much to lose as the ranger, could only shake his head. “So little is known about it. We would need to observe it for decades, perhaps centuries, to know more.”
“We don’t have that kind of time,” Asher pressed, his fist thumping down onto the table. “You were supposed to find a way,” he growled.
“This isn’t one of your typical problems,” Kassian retorted on Gideon’s behalf. “You can’t just swing a sword at it and make things better.”
Asher eyed the Keeper with some ferocity. “There aren’t nearly enough winters behind you to lecture me, boy.”
Kassian’s face dropped and he started for the ranger. Inara’s hand quickly found its place in the centre of the Keeper’s chest, an immovable object he could not overcome.
“That would be a mistake,” she warned.
Doran let out a little chuckle. “I wouldn’ o’ minded watchin’,” he remarked.
“Emotions are high,” Reyna said diplomatically, watching Kassian relax. “That is to be expected. We all have something to lose and we are wading through uncharted territory. We must be reasonable and work together if we are to undo this calamity.”
“My mother is right,” Inara said. “Time is our enemy. Without the combined magic of the Drakes in that pit, the doorway will soon close. At the rate we are losing magic in this world, we might not be able to rely on Athis or Ilargo to fly us back to Drakanan.”
“We would need magic to enter the bonding chamber anyway,” Gideon added, folding his arms. “This doorway is our only option.”
“What about Alijah?” Asher posed with little explanation.
“What about him?” Vighon questioned.
“He has Jainus magic at his disposal,” the ranger stated. “Is it possible he possesses the knowledge to stop the situation from getting any worse?”
“He has used time spells,” Nathaniel chipped in.
Asher briefly pointed at his friend. “Time spells. Perhaps he knows of a way to reverse what’s happened. Or maybe we could even go back and…” He could feel himself grasping at straws.
Gideon was shaking his head. “Time is a fragile thing, Asher. It can be fractured and manipulated to extreme lengths, but it cannot go back on itself.”
“I am no master in these matters,” the ranger admitted, “but there must be something he has that can stop this.”
“So you want us to abandon the site and attack Alijah and Malliath?” Kassian jibed. “Wherever they might be,” he added, throwing his hands in the air. “And all for what? Something he might not even have?”
“It’s better than staying here and doing nothing!” Asher argued, his fists clenching into knots.
“This is typical!” Kassian spat. “You can’t fix it so you just want to hit it!”
“Shut ye gob!” Doran barked. “The man’s got a point. The answer might lie with our enemy. He did this, after all!”
Vighon waved his hand. “We are in no position to take this fight to Alijah. And Kassian is right. We have no idea where he’s gone.”
It was then that Inara gave her opinion, in Asher’s favour, but was quickly opposed by Gideon. With Vighon stuck between them, the three bickered venomously. Reyna and Nathaniel stepped in to meet Kassian’s next bout of abuse towards the ranger, though Reyna quickly peeled off to interfere with Inara and Gideon. Doran also took umbrage with the Keeper’s choice of words and placed himself directly in front of the man, a threatening look in his eye. Faylen tried to diffuse things between them by putting a hand on each, but Kassian appeared to be getting fed up with people physically holding him back. All the while, Asher was poking his finger into the table with every point he made, each one an argument for finding and attacking Alijah while there was still time.
A nudge to the side of his leg turned Asher away from the heated arguments. Looking down, Avandriell was pressing her head into his calf. At the same time, he could feel her reaching out to him across their bond, filling his head with unintelligible whispers. Her golden eyes directed the ranger back to Adan’Karth, but the Drake was no longer curled up on his cot.
Asher’s eyes narrowed as he assessed his young friend. “Adan…”
“Quiet,” Vighon commanded from the other side of the table. The king’s gaze turned the tent’s occupants to Adan, who was slowly approaching them draped in furs.
Asher offered to steady him, but the Drake managed to reach the table unaided. His skin was paler than usual, making him almost white and his patches of paper-thin scales nearly undetectable. His reptilian eyes were sunken and surrounded by dark rings.
“Avandriell’s presence is most soothing,” Adan complimented, directing a smile at her. “Forgive my absence, as it were, I have not been myself. I needed time to piece my thoughts back together.”
Kassian moved away from the others to better see the Drake. “You haven’t said anything since we left the tree.”
“Was that some time ago?” Adan asked.
Gideon put himself on the other side of Vighon, away from Inara. “It’s been days, Adan. We haven’t been able to get through to you.”
Asher caught the Drake’s eyes. “What happened down there?”
Adan held his gaze for a moment, his thoughts his own. When he was ready, the Drake revealed his hand from within his furs. He turned it over so that all could see.
“I spoke to the tree,” he breathed. “It is dying and it knows it.”
Nathaniel cocked an eyebrow. “The tree is… alive then?”
“It is more alive than
