The Binding Witch and the Bounty Hunter Page 7

  He came up and rubbed up against my leg and purred. Willingly. It was bizarre.

  Last was Leo. I was already holding three orbs in my mind’s eye between Indira, Gringo, and me, and things were feeling a bit full in there. I took a deep breath and mentally arranged them so they were in a circle rather than stacked two over two. This way, I was just expanding the circle by adding his orb, and it made things more balanced visually. It helped.

  As I completed the orb, Gringo laughed again, in that weird staccato way that sounded like he was wheezing or preparing to cough up another hairball. I opened my eyes to see Indira, in her orb, pressing her lips together in an effort not to laugh.

  Leo was encased in an orb similar to the others, except for his head. I’d clearly miscalculated his full height.

  “Sorry.” I tried hard not to grin myself. “You probably need your head inside the orb?”

  “It does help with the thinking.” Leo shrugged. “I guess this is better than nothing, though.”

  “You can’t go in there with your head unprotected,” Indira said. “You’ll be barbecued.”

  Gringo made a gagging sound.

  “Okay,” he said. “Which one of you is going to carry out a two-by-two box of treasure . . . quietly?”

  “Right. I’m sorry. Let me try again.” I cringed inwardly as I felt my face grow hot in embarrassment. My friends needed me and I’d let them down again. I felt strangely concerned about Leo’s head and it not getting fried off his shoulders.

  “No,” he said. “We’ve already wasted too much time as it is. We need to get in there before he wakes up. I’ll just take the rear position and crouch down behind Kate’s shield. That will give me some protection. It’ll be fine.”

  We crept forward to the cave and waited as the next snore and subsequent blast bathed us in reflected heat. Then we entered the dragon’s cave.

  I thought Luna would have been proud of me.

  14

  I don’t know what you think of when you hear “dragon’s cave,” but this one didn’t fit my mental picture. I thought since they were legendary treasure hoarders, it would be littered with jewels and crystals and, well, sort of pretty. This dragon’s cave had a stink like a pet lizard’s dirty tank—part rotten fish, part live fish, with hints of stale grass. It was dark and dank and completely underwhelming. I struggled to keep my mouth from falling open in surprise and gagging on the odor.

  We crept in single file, this time Gringo first, Indira next, and me in front of Leo, who brought up the rear. Our steps shuffled in the grit on the cave floor. Light snores coming from within the depths of the cave surely covered our progress, but our noise was deafening to my ears.

  The light from the outside faded and the ground sloped slightly downward into the darkness. My heart slammed in my chest, even though I knew I was safe inside my shield. The stench grew as we continued the descent another dozen or so yards—I lost count. I was scanning uselessly for a hidden hole for the next big blast when I realized the snoring had stopped.

  We collectively froze.

  Ahead, out of the darkness, two reddish eyes appeared. They had a strange glaze over them that dulled the color.

  “Who disturbs my rest?” A voice echoed, wet with phlegm and age.

  The sound made me think that the area we’d entered was much larger than the tunnels we’d been walking through.

  “So much for the element of surprise,” Leo whispered from his crouched position behind me. “Now we do diplomacy.”

  “Diplomacy?” I said.

  “Yeah,” he said. “You know, this is where you convince the dragon to give you the treasure and let us live.”

  “I know what diplomacy means,” I said. "I just didn't think you could do it with a dragon."

  “Seeing as how it's our only option, it's worth a shot,” he said.

  “I am Ersyt, The Eternal Fire,” the voice boomed again. “Who disturbs my rest?”

  I gulped. It was now or never. I drew on my connection with Luna and the tugging I still felt at my tattoo.

  “Um . . . I do. Mister Fire. Sir.” I stumbled over my words despite my best effort to sound confident.

  The eyes narrowed in a glare I felt looked directly into my soul.

  The lovely tinkle of laughter echoed in the cave. "I am not a sir, but a ma'am."

  “Oh . . . I'm sorry . . . ma'am. I didn’t—” My mistake made me fumble further.

  “Regardless, you have interrupted my rest,” Ersyt said. “And rest is something that is very, very important to a dragon of my advanced age.”

  “Of course, we don't mean to be rude,” I said. “We'll leave immediately.”

  Leo thumped my back—not in the congratulatory way.

  Right. Diplomacy. I let out a labored breath and stilled my shaking hands. “I mean, is it possible, actually, what I mean to say is, I was wondering if you would at all agree to the idea of maybe giving us the treasure that recently belonged to the forest gnomes?”

  “That was just the worst bit of diplomacy I've ever heard,” Leo whispered. “We’re toast."

  Indira groaned, and Gringo growled quietly in agreement.

  Again, the tinkling laughter. “To whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?"

  "Kate Rourke, ma'am.” I threw in a curtsy, just in case she could see in the dark. Good curtsy skills were a staple at any Renaissance festival. I was glad to have a real-world reason for using one.

  “May we have some light?” said the dragon.

  A soft phosphorescent glow appeared in a dozen different spots around the cave, revealing that we were indeed in a larger dome that was the nest of the dragon. It glittered with jewels and dripped with the glowing moss that currently produced the light. It didn’t appear as if anyone was there to do the lighting, so I wondered if she was talking directly to the moss. Which made me wonder if she ever got lonely, with only plants to talk to.

  Ersyt was indeed a small dragon, about two feet long in body. Compared to the dragons of my imagination, she was no bigger than a German shepherd, or maybe a mastiff. Her scales put off a gentle gleam of blue, green, and purple. Her long tail curled around her form, and though not all dragons could fly, leathery wings tucked up against her sides. Huge, intelligent eyes sat in a wide, elegant head that narrowed to a pointed snout. My eyes darted back to hers as I realized the red pupils were veiled with a grayish film and seemed to look past us, rather than at us, the way Blind Maggie’s eyes did.

  The dragon was beautiful, and she was blind.

  “So you have come here on behalf of the forest gnomes." Her gaze flitted over us, not focusing near or far. “Interesting. The leader is a tricky little bastard named Alick?”

  My eyes grew wide. “Yes, that’s him,” I said, wondering if a blind dragon could still target us for death.

  Ersyt took a deep breath and swung her head towards me. “You are a girl.”

  My stomach clenched as she answered my silent question. The dragon could target by smell. “Yes.”

  She swung her head to Indira. “A small woman.”

  “Yes.” Indira nodded. “It is good to meet you.”

  “Of course it is. I’m a dragon, everyone wants to meet me.” Ersyt turned her head to Gringo and licked her lips. “Mmmm, cat.”

  Gringo hissed.

  “He’s my mother’s cat, ma’am,” I said. “She is a powerful witch and would be very grateful if you did not eat him.”

  “Fine.” Ersyt sighed and sniffed again. “A man. I would eat him, except he’s your brother, and I suppose you would be upset by that too. People are so sensitive about having their family members eaten.”

  I cocked my head. “Whose brother?” But then the nagging feeling I’d been carrying about Leo suddenly resolved, and I knew the answer. It all made a crazy kind of sense. I turned to look at Leo.

  He slowly met my eyes, then shrugged. “Secret’s out, I guess. She’s half right. I’m your half-brother.”

  I shook my head. “How—wh
o—when—”

  He grinned. “It’s not really my job to tell you how babies are made, Kate, but I do know we share the same father. I’m guessing this was about ten years before you were born.”

  I stared at a jeweled wall, ignored his sarcasm, and tried to process his words. “Did you know our father? I mean, before he died?”

  Leo scrunched his face together. “Um, well, about that—”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt this lovely family reunion, but I have a bit of a deadline here,” Ersyt said, “and I don’t want to miss my window.”

  I tore my eyes from Leo back to Ersyt. “How did you know he was my brother?”

  “Scent,” she said. “You both smell the same. Now let’s get back to business before I decide to eat you all instead.”

  “Instead of what?” Indira put a protective arm around me and squeezed my shoulder.

  I knew her gesture was meant to placate me, but I had more questions. I opened my mouth, but closed it with a grunt when I felt another, harder squeeze on my shoulder. I glared at Indira, but she looked straight ahead.

  “Listen,” Ersyt said. “My longevity is related to ability to amass and keep treasure. That treasure is protected by magic from the thieving Fae. The only time my treasure is in jeopardy is if I take it out of my home here in Elsereach, or when those blasted gnomes try for it.”

  “Why would you want to take it out of Elsereach?” Leo said. He glanced at me as if to check if I were okay with him being my brother.

  I folded my arms and sighed loudly. I was tired of being put off and humored by adults.

  “I can see you didn’t get the brains in the family,” Ersyt said. “You clearly know your way around Elsereach, boy. Don’t you see? This place is collapsing. Even my ancient magic can’t sustain it. The only ones who won’t accept it are the Fairies, and they think I’m the key to their survival. If only the idiots would make the transition like those pesky forest gnomes. Change or die, I always say.”

  I paused my sulk and pondered this statement coming from someone so old that the last change they had to make was probably over a thousand years ago.

  “Anyway, somehow, the gnomes are immune to my magic. Last year, Alick and his band tried to steal treasure from me while I was out hunting. I found them still here stuffing their pockets with jewels, so I roasted and ate one of them”—her long tongue licked her lips—“and sent the rest away a little crispy. I resent him sending you in hopes that my soft spot for damsels in distress will yield what he wants.”

  “So that’s not gonna work?" I said.

  “No,” she said.

  “Oh,” I squeaked.

  My group took a collective step back.

  “But I have a bargain to propose,” she said.

  My heart slammed in my chest. “A bargain is good. We can do a bargain.”

  “I need to leave here, and the gnomes can help me set up housekeeping in your world. They can protect me and my treasure,” Ersyt said.

  “You—you’re not going to eat them?” I said, and then wondered why I cared if those thieving forest gnomes became her lunch.

  “Not . . . many, if they’re agreeable to my proposal,” she said, her wide mouth curled into a smile to reveal sharp teeth. “We could have a mutually beneficial life. They love treasure and I like to live.”

  I looked around at my misfit band of friends. “Well?”

  Leo and Indira looked at each other, then back at me, and nodded.

  “Deal,” I said. “So what’s the plan?”

  15

  Twenty minutes later we lurched out of the cave opening with Leo struggling under the weight of a two-foot-wide treasure chest on his back. The sun was going down, making me wonder how much time was passing back in normal reality. Sometimes the time spent in the Fae world didn’t quite match up to our own.

  “You are either the luckiest person I have ever met, or that bracelet works way better for you than it does for me," Leo grumbled as he led us around the perimeter of the field, back towards the door to our world. That strange static feeling returned, and I shivered.

  “Ouch!” I rubbed at some grit that blew into my eye. The wind had picked up, indicating the weather in Elsereach was about to change. “I’m not sure if you can call this bargain ‘lucky.’ It seems more like a suicide mission.”

  “You got what you came for, didn’t you?” Leo said. “That’s a win in my book.”

  “Can we just talk about the fact that you’re my brother?” I said, stomping my foot.

  “Sure, what do you want to talk about, sis?” Leo grinned.

  “Shhh,” Indira hissed, having taken point with Gringo again, her curved knives held at the ready. “Ersyt said our way out might not be as clear as it was on the way in, and she wouldn’t be able to protect us.”

  “Maybe it’s just this bad weather,” I said. “A little wind never hurt anyone.”

  “I don’t know,” Indira said. “It seems like something more.”

  I pressed my lips together and considered Indira’s words while giving Leo a harsh glare. “So, there was a poem my mom used to recite: ‘Look for the halcyon flora when the breeze still blows, and sheltered fauna before the balance throws.’”

  “What is ‘halcyon’?” Indira said. “I haven’t seen that word in my calendar yet.”

  “I’m not sure it’s in there, Indira,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “It means peaceful, but I can’t remember what the poem means.”

  “It means we’re about to be in the soup, ladies,” Leo said, raising his eyebrows.

  Gringo hissed.

  “Oh, sorry,” Leo said. “And gent. Ladies and gent.”

  I looked the way he indicated and saw nothing but the field of wildflowers, about to get a nice downpour. But then . . . wait. A sick feeling of dread blossomed in my gut. We were almost to the door. Just a little farther . . .

  “’Halcyon’ can also mean still and unmoving,” I pointed. “Look at the wildflowers.”

  Every blade of grass and every single leaf on every single tree was as still and unmoving as if this were a quiet summer day, all while storm-force winds picked up and whipped our clothes and hair against our bodies. The static feeling crackled around me, and I realized what it meant.

  “Halcyon,” Indira said.

  “Yep,” I said. “The Fae.”

  “What happened to all the animals and birds?” Indira asked

  “They know a bad thing when they see it,” Leo shouted over the howl of the wind. “Only the Fae have the kind of magic that controls the flora—the grass, trees, and plants of the Elsereach. And it’s only for one reason—to hide their approach. Everyone! Like we planned!”

  Suddenly, a dozen humanoid Fae rose from the motionless field of flowers. The one nearest Indira lunged at her with a scary-looking sword that felt thick with magic, even from where I stood rooted to the ground in surprise.

  Indira leapt in a tilted spin, her knees bent and her knives out—a deadly whirl of blades.

  The Fae who met her in battle had long white-blond hair and a face that was too long to pass for human. His stretched-out features ended in a mouth full of needle-like teeth, which he bared at her as he brought his sword up to deflect her attack—she had him on the defensive already and it looked like it took him by surprise.

  Indira executed two more consecutive twirls faster than I could blink. When she landed, her blades were wet with the Fae’s blood.

  Indira let loose a primal scream, her black hair coming loose from its braid, and charged into the fray.

  Left behind her, the long-faced Fae’s eyes were wide with surprise as he looked down at the hand he pulled away from his neck. Blood streamed out of four deep cuts under his ear. His eyes rolled into the back of his head, and he dropped to the ground, his last mistake having been to underestimate Indira Valaithan.

  A cold, lonely horn sounded, and the rest of the Fae, as one unit, exploded into action toward Indira. Six stayed on her, but five snaked past and head
ed our way.

  “Get back!” Leo screamed at me, throwing the chest in my direction.

  It landed with a thump, now sporting three arrows that had almost hit me dead on.

  “Protect that chest and yourself!” He jabbed his finger at me, then the chest, then picked up the dead Fae’s sword and charged into battle with the five.

  Gringo yowled and dove in after him.

  I gulped, ran behind the chest, and closed my eyes. The plan was for me to protect the treasure with any kind of shield I could produce and call out when I thought I could throw one of my magical firebombs, so my people could duck and not get exploded. At least this was what we’d decided in the cave, when things were quiet and peaceful and this plan sounded sane.

  Quicker than last time, I envisioned an orb that protected me and the treasure. In it, I added protection from projectiles and swords. I felt the orb snap into place and opened my eyes. This time, the orb was greenish yellow. I jumped onto the chest to give myself a better vantage point through the trees that surrounded the cave opening. My knees shook from the effort of creating the orb.

  The orb pinged like a bell when arrows hit it. I knew this because I was now under attack from a Fae who was trying to kill me with arrows that seemed to magically appear in her hand with every shot.

  Ping!

  Ping! Ping! Ping!

  Ping!

  That one noise, despite all the screaming and clanging of swords, was intolerable. Marble-sized orbs grew in the palms of my hands, and I filled them with hot, impatient fire. They grew of their own accord until they settled on baseball size. I looked at my palms and up at the archer Fae.

  She had baby-pink hair and almond-shaped eyes that were set almost vertically in her face. Her mouth made a surprised O-shape at the fireball orbs. She slowly crept backwards with her gaze glued to my hands.

  Then my shield orb dissipated in a fizzling pop.

  Pinky gave me a big smile with a full set of razor-sharp teeth, just like Dead Long Face’s. She reversed her course back towards me and raised her bow.