Severn was likewise lifted, as was Terrano. Terrano didn’t consider the Norranir as terrifying as Dragons, but his expression made clear this method of transport waswaybeneath his dignity. Rich, given how little he usually cared. But itwasfaster, and the Norranir were in control; they didn’t have to tell their three companions where to step or not to step, didn’t have to make certain they didn’t wander outside invisible boundaries and into terrain that had long been ceded to the Shadows that ruled it.
Kaylin, no longer worried about jogging or sprinting to stay in line, observed. The elder walked at their head. Just behind her, the first drummers. Kaylin didn’t understand why drumming was effective as protection. In Bellusdeo’s world—in the worldshe had ruled before she had fallen to Shadow herself—there had been no Towers, no fiefs, and no barrier erected aroundRavellon.
But in this world, until the arrival of the Norranir, there had been no drumming, no drums of this kind. No use of deliberate, rhythmic sound, shorn of any other music. Kaylin wasn’t the biggest appreciator of music, but nothing about this was musical. It reminded her of a heartbeat, even, unstopping, but steady. There was no change in volume, no speeding up or slowing down. It just continued.
It is very like a heartbeat.She blinked and turned her head. Hope was staring at her, his opalescent eyes unblinking.Can you not hear it?
“Hear what?”
The beating of a heart, Kaylin. The drums beat in time with it. It is a sound that is meant to lull those whocanhear the heart it mimics.
“What?”
Squawk.Hope looked vaguely irritated. Kaylin remembered: it took power to make himself understood. Mostly, he didn’t bother. No, she thought, he expected her to use the power of the Chosen to bridge the gap. She didn’t know how, not consciously. What had Sanabalis said? Her power responded to need. To focus. To Kaylin’s desperation.
And she wasn’t desperate now. But she filed away his words, because if he thought them important enough to make the effort to speak, they probably were.
But it did irritate her that the Barrani could understand him. And the Norranir. It didn’t seem to take power to talk to other people—just to Kaylin. She clearly had time for what she knew was pettiness, because she didn’t have to expend energy running.
Here, she could see the washed-out gray of buildings familiar to the border zones that existed between fiefs. But these buildings were different. They weren’t the height of the Norranir homes, newly made by Tiamaris, but they were close,and one building in particular caught her eye. It was three stories in height—rare in the border zones—and very wide; it was almost intimidatingly similar to the Imperial Palace in size, and it seemed to be made of seamless stone. She could feel her skin begin to prickle, but it wasn’t painful yet—more of a sharp tickle.
Had she been on her own feet, she might have slowed. Instead, she shouted a warning to the Norranir.
But Bellusdeo’s roars—more focused and somehow sharper—swamped her words.
“Terrano—tell Teela there’s something wrong with this building!”
Terrano could barely hear her, if he could hear her at all. But she could hear his cursing—it was pure Leontine. Had she not known it was him, she’d’ve assumed an actual Leontine had joined the procession.
Bellusdeo roared again, this time the sound staccato, as if she was carefully enunciating words. What Kaylin failed to make clear, Bellusdeo did: the Norranir could hear her. The elder’s voice rose clearly enough to be heard, and the Norranir line retreated, moving back in an organized wave, leaving more slowly, more carefully, than they’d arrived.
Retreating, Severn said.If they turned and fled, we’d have called that a rout, back in class.
Which class?
Probably one of the ones you got permission to skip.
She grimaced, regretting her past choices. The man on whose shoulders she rode caught her ankles in either hand to make certain she didn’t fall off.
The air in the border zone was often foggy. On bad days, the fog was thick and almost impenetrable; on good days, it was clear enough that the lack of bright colors in the border zone was marked. Today, it was thin, but present. Because it was, visibility wasn’t perfect. But it was good enough that Kaylincould see, in the distance, the gold glint of scales in the air just above the height of the building that had stopped her, metaphorically speaking, in her tracks.
Fire burned the fog away. As Bellusdeo approached, Kaylin could see her eyes: they were bright, crimson red. She’d expected that. This close to the heart of the Shadow that had destroyed her kingdom, her eyes were never going to be any other color. What Kaylin hadn’t expected was Teela, who was riding on the gold Dragon’s back. Her sword was sheathed, and she was far enough away that Kaylin couldn’t see her eye color, but she knew it was the Barrani equivalent of draconic red.
The drumming didn’t stop, but the Norranir did, their double line falling into a different formation as Bellusdeo reached the street, her claws scratching the ground as she came to a skidding halt.
Terrano made his way past the Norranir toward Teela as Teela leaped easily to the ground. Kaylin would have followed, but she was held more firmly on the shoulders of the Norranir who had carried them this far.
Bellusdeo lost draconic form as Teela walked toward Kaylin.
“Is that a good idea?” the Barrani Hawk asked over her shoulder, without looking back. “We don’t know what we’re going to encounter here.”
“If we have to go inside, I can’t do it as a Dragon.”
“I’m not sure we have to go inside. This building has gained a story since we made our way to your fief today. If I had fiery breath, I’d destroy the whole building immediately.”
Tiamaris, red-scaled but shining in the same way Bellusdeo had, landed next. Fallessian and Torrisant were on his back, but they jumped off almost before he’d finished moving. Neither looked at all comfortable. Kaylin thought it odd that they’d trusted Tiamaris more than Bellusdeo.
I think Bellusdeo gave them very little warning, Severn pointed out.Teela’s spent more time with her—she probably guessed whatBellusdeo would do and didn’t bother asking for permission or waiting for niceties.