Chapter 11
The closer he got to Yala-tene, the more Duranix grew disturbed. Something was terribly wrong, and it wasn’t all due to that fool Tiphan’s dabbling with forces he couldn’t control. The sense of menace he’d detected before leaving the village was still building like invisible thunderheads, foretelling a storm of terrible magnitude. Though still too vague to identify, the signals were stronger than before — stronger and closer.
Duranix landed on the cliffs above the village, where years before he’d fought the rebel nomads of Hatu the One-eyed and Nacris. He inspected the sleeping town. Though the starry night seemed peaceful, the chill he felt throughout his massive body confirmed the worst: The malign presence had come to Yala-tene. It would have to be found and expunged as quickly as possible.
He flew into his cavern, shaking off the waterfall’s momentary deluge as he always did. The dying embers of a fire and the smell of roast elk told him someone had eaten recently. His heat-sensitive vision picked out a single warm body, sleeping by the hearth. Amero was home.
Duranix stalked across the cave and exhaled a small bolt of lightning into the firepit. Flames blazed up. Familiar surroundings and the nearness of his human friend raised Duranix’s spirits.
He pushed his head close to the sleeping mound and boomed, “Wake up, boy! I’ve much to tell you!”
The sleeper jerked upright. With a start Duranix realized it wasn’t Amero, but a female with long black hair. Her mouth opened, and she screamed, scrambling around the hearth away from him. She kept on screaming, face contorted by utter panic.
“Cease that noise!” he roared.
Like a judicious slap in the face, his command worked.
The girl’s jaws worked in silent horror, then she shouted, “You’re the dragon!”
“How brilliant you are! Who are you?”
She pulled herself together and replied in a calmer tone, “Beramun. I’m Beramun. You… you’re Duranix, aren’t you?”
“I am, and this is my home. Why are you here?”
“Amero brought me — ”
“Did he?” His eyes narrowed. “Where is the hospitable Amero?”
“I don’t know,” she said, looking around rapidly. “He was here when I went to sleep.”
Duranix circled the hearth. Beramun scampered away, maintaining her distance. “Are you the female he’s been tending in the village?” the dragon asked.
Her face colored. “No! I only arrived in the valley yesterday.”
“Then why did Amero bring you here? It’s not his custom to lodge strangers in our home.”
Beramun stood up, tugging at her twisted clothing. “I came to Yala-tene to warn him, to warn everyone,” she said, untying the braided hide belt at her waist and smoothing her kilt.
“Warn them of what?”
“Zannian’s raiders.” Beramun had to loosen the wraparound shirt in order to unbind her arms. When she did, the shirt fell away from her shoulders, exposing the green mark high on her chest.
Duranix’s pupils expanded. Without warning, he sprang through the fire. She had no time to dodge, but did let loose another bloodcurdling scream as his bronze talons enveloped her.
“You are his!” Duranix bellowed.
“Let me go!” she shrieked. “Let me go, monster! Let me go!”
He reared up on his hind legs, and for a heart-stopping moment she thought he meant to dash her against the cave wall. Instead, he carried her to the largest opening, the one directly behind the falls.
“You belong to him,” Duranix said coldly, his great voice carrying easily over the rumble of the water. “Did he send you to destroy me?”
“Destroy you?” Beramun’s voice was shrill with terror. “Belong to who? I don’t know what you mean!”
He thrust her out of the cave. Hundreds of paces above the ground, she now clung to Duranix as fiercely as she had fought his grip a moment before.
“Why did you come here?” he bellowed.
She screamed the words as fast as she was able. “To warn the people of Yala-tene about Zannian and his raiders — ”
“Lies!” Duranix leaned farther out and pushed Beramun into the edge of the plunging stream of water. At its heart the waterfall had sufficient force to break bones and tear hair out by the roots. Even here, the torrent forced Beramun’s head down and pounded her back. She choked until he hauled her in.
“Why did you come here?” Duranix demanded. “What is your purpose?”
“I told you — ”
He extended his foreclaw toward the water again.
Tears streaming down her drenched face, she cried, “No! No! It’s the truth! I swear by my ancestors! It’s the truth!”
A shout came from behind. Turning his broad head, Duranix saw Amero vault out of the basket and rush toward them.
“Stop it, Duranix! Don’t hurt her!”
“Are you mad, boy? She is one of Sthenn’s creatures!”
“No! She came here to warn us about Sthenn!”
Duranix examined the limp, bedraggled girl in his grasp. His brazen lip curled in disgust, and he tossed her to Amero. The latter managed to catch her, staggering backward under the unexpected burden.
“What’s gotten into you, Duranix?” Amero said, lowering Beramun to the floor. “I’ve never seen you mistreat a human so!”
The dragon’s ribs worked hard as he inhaled and exhaled, calming himself. Finally he said, “She wears Sthenn’s mark! She is his creature, no less than the yevi that killed your parents.”
“His mark?”
“See for yourself. High on the left side of her chest.”
Amero gently parted Beramun’s sodden hair and peeled back the wet doeskin. The green triangle stood out plainly. He touched it lightly with a forefinger. The mark was smooth, the edges flush with the girl’s skin.
Beramun came out of her daze and pushed weakly at his hands. “What’re you doing? Don’t touch me!”
“What is this mark?”
She held her shirt tight to her neck. “I don’t know. A bruise!”
“Have you always had it?”
“No. I noticed it after my escape from Almurk.”
Amero quickly recounted to Duranix her story of capture by Sthenn’s raiders and her escape.
The dragon listened, motionless and silent, but when the tale was done he said, “This is the shadow I sensed coming, Amero. This is the danger that threatens us all. She was marked by Sthenn. She is his creature. Better she dies now, before she can do his evil here.”
Beramun gasped and stood on shaky legs to run. She looked about wildly, realizing she was hopelessly trapped in the cave. Duranix made no move toward her, but Amero stepped between the dragon and the girl.
“There’s no proof she’s here on Sthenn’s behalf. Maybe the mark is just a bruise.” Even to his own ears, it sounded weak, and Duranix was not likely to be wrong about such a thing.
“I smell Sthenn all over her,” the dragon told him, crouching low and coiling his powerful legs beneath him. “I sensed his presence a hundred leagues away. Now I know why — he sent this girl here.”
“But why? She has warned us about his plots!”
“You don’t understand the poisonous subtlety of Sthenn’s mind. If he sent her here, there is a black reason behind it.” Amero folded his arms across his chest. “I won’t let you harm her.”
Silence ensued, heavy and tense. Amero knew he was no match for the dragon, but he honestly could not imagine that Duranix would hurt him. Though he was still a strange and oft-times unfathomable creature, Duranix had been Amero’s friend too long for the dragon to disregard him.
Finally, Duranix relaxed his attack stance. “Very well,” he said calmly. “Shield her if you must. There’s no understanding the irrational feelings humans have for each other.” Amero breathed more easily, but the dragon’s
