“By Sofriel,” the young woman whispered. “Is that a…”
“Yes, it is.”
Why do you hide in the thorns with this female? Is she stealing you? I will eat her eyes if you but command it.
No, she is not stealing me. We are talking, that is all.
I do not trust her.He climbed up my back, claws digging into my leather armor, until he sat on my shoulder with his tail curled around my neck. The spy maiden gaped openly then touched her brow and began whispering what sounded like prayers in tundra speak. I pet his scaly back to calm him as if he were a distressed cat.
“You are more than a whisper in a gilded ear. You are a wyrmwarden. Blessed among those who walked the plains as their bonded wyrms flew above. I have heard tales…never…may I present your wyrm a small offering?”
Tell her if it is meat, then yes. If not, I will decide once I see it.
“He would be honored for any offering you present,” I said instead as I scowled at the dragonling.
That is not my wording.
Your wording was rude.
Not rude. Honest. Oh, that is a pretty stone! Tell her I accept it.
I glanced down to see a round gem of darkest green lying on the dirt. My contact was nowhere to be seen, but her gift to Jaculi glimmered in the thin beams of sunlight breaking through the brambles.
Jaculi leapt from my shoulder, tail lashing in delight, as he curled around the offered gemstone, tucking it into his belly as a cat might a ball of yarn. As he played with the gem, I took a moment to try to realign my thoughts and feelings. Leaving Asdren behind felt wrong. Deeply, deeply wrong. Yet those were my instructions. I had to obey the orders sent down to me.
“Let us leave these berries before a bear wanders in,” I whispered over the clump of sadness in my throat. Jaculi grabbed his gem in a clawed foot and tucked it into my shirt. I removed it with care before dropping it in with the bag of coins.
You may hold my horde as we build it. I trust you and only you.
Thank you for your trust. How large of a horde do you think will fit in my shirt?We crawled out of the berries. Asdren and the others were seated beside a pile of rocks cleared from the roadway over time.
Just the seeds of one.
With that, he took to the air, using the warm currents to lift him skyward as I straightened, dusted my knees, and locked eyes with Asdren. I could not judge what he was thinking at the moment.
“We are to ride to Lettle Curve as planned,” I told them and then moved to Newt, who was dozing while standing. I ran a hand over his nose as the others mumbled amongst themselves. I knew I should tell them that once we reached the settlement, our time together was at an end. They had donethe job they had been hired to do and had done it well. They had gotten me through the Iron Gates and into Grommveldir, through the tunnels, and out the other side. They would be paid handsomely. They would leave, and I would ride off to complete my mission. There the friendships would end. As it should. Perhaps it should never have started…
“You elves sure to find the oddest places to have meetings,” Asdren said from behind me, his voice shaking me from my worries. I glanced back at him. He seemed stiff in the shoulders as well as the set of his hairy jaw. His eyes told me he knew what kind of meeting had taken place off the road. He was not a stupid man. He waited a moment or two for me to speak. When I said nothing, he spoke up. “Whenever you get on your pony, we can head off. A bath and a soft bed would do wonders for my aching back.”
“I am ready,” I softly replied, unable to say more. I rode away from the berry bush with a gem the size of a plum in my pocket and an ache in my breast.
