Or fear.
She wanted to accompany the cohort. Spike certainly wanted her to. But he couldn’t go with them on his own. Kaylin pointed out—quietly—that he’d come to the West March as a flying insect; he hadn’t remained attached to the person who had carried him out ofRavellon. Spike agreed.
“I was anchored,” he then explained in a buzzing voice that made Kaylin’s jaw ache. Given the sudden attention of the gathering, he’d spoken in a way that everyone else could hear, as well. “I could not leaveRavellon. I had to be carried out, and even then, there was some resistance. The Towers are strong.
“When I was free of the barrier, I could act on the orders of my master. I did not require the anchor.”
“And you require it now?” Sedarias demanded.
“If your Adversary is what I suspect he must be, yes.” There was marked hesitation. “My form is contained by identification of Kaylin’s blood. The blood-binding is voluntary.”
“Have you done it before?” Kaylin asked, surprised.
“Yes. Once.”
“With who?”
“Once,” he repeated. “It is a binding that lasts while the binder lives. It is...a form of servitude. One might choose it if one’s existence might otherwise cease. I chose for different reasons this time. I could, and can, find you anywhere that I am permitted, by form and the rules of the plane, to travel. While I am with you, I cannot be commanded by any other force. But you are a creature who resides almost entirely in the space you now occupy. The threads that bind us bind us most strongly here.
“Helen is fully capable of separating us, although it would take effort and will on her part. I am not sure, were I physically welded to you, that it would not destroy me. She trusts you. But this building, this place—it is not like Helen. And the...cavern, as you call it, is secured using similar paradigms to the power that keepsRavellonseparate from your lands. Were I to venture into the cavern without you, I would have no way of leaving it. The Tower here is not entirely unlike Helen; can you not hear its voice?”
“No.”
“Any of you?”
Terrano exhaled. “I can.”
Kaylin had a thousand questions and opened her mouth to ask the first one. Teela’s raised hand, however, cut off the flow of words before they’d started.
“We’ll be here all day, kitling. And most of tomorrow, as well.” She then turned to Sedarias, whose eyes were drilling the side of Terrano’s face.
“What,” she demanded, and it was clearly a demand, given the color of her eyes, “do you hear? What is it saying?”
Terrano’s expression said,See, this is why I never mentioned it. Kaylin saw an echo of herself—her younger self—in his expression, and came to his rescue.
“You don’t know.”
He didn’t like to be called stupid, either. Or be seen as stupid or helpless. “I can’t describe it. It’s not—it’s not like our words. Not even like our languages. It’s not the difference between Dragon and Barrani speech.” He frowned. “Spike, can you hear it?”
“Yes.” Spike’s buzzing voice tailed up at the end, as if the agreement were actually a question.
“Can you explain it?”
Spike clicked and buzzed while everyone else held their breath. Kaylin could sense both frustration and surprise in the sound, as if he were having to explain how to breathe. Or they wouldn’t.
“It is a warning,” he finally said.
“Like the Towers in the fiefs?”
“No, unlike the Towers. This Tower is more broken than Helen.” Since he wasn’t visible, it took Kaylin half a second to understand that he was talking about the High Halls—a building that was not, to her knowledge, sentient. The High Halls did not magically alter themselves to make visitors comfortable; the geography of the hallways and rooms didn’t change.
But the Tower of Testdid. And she’d seen the Arkon’s replay. She knew that the Towerhad. At one point, in the very dim and distant past, the High Halls had been either a Tower or something similar to the Hallionne. Here, in what was not yet Elantra, where the presence of Dragons meant death.
“Is it a new warning?” Teela asked, her voice much quieter than Sedarias’s. Quieter and colder. “Is it recent?”
“I am not certain. It is a warning. It is...” he rumbled; Kaylin’s arm shook with the force of his thought. Her hand began to warm, until Spike was almost uncomfortably hot. “A lighthouse.”
“Beacon?” Kaylin asked.
