Fate of Dragons

Chapter Four - Part I

In the evening, Tesa left Orrie to his own devices in the aerie, the part of the dragon dwell where dragons liked to roost on high shelves, crags, and in caves. The hatching caves were closed for the evening, and the line of seekers had disappeared into nearby lodgings and camps. Nonetheless, Tesa still took a hidden route out of the dragon dwell, because she didn't want the gatekeeper dragon to notice her going.

As a rule, when they explored the caves, none of them walked there together. Despite Fenn's skepticism, Eriya still believed heartily that the Karume used smaller versions of the doors to spy on different places in Areth. Tesa wasn't sure if she believed in the extent of the surveillance that Eriya described, but she also thought it best not to take any chances. If it would arouse suspicions for them to routinely travel down the mountain together, then Tesa was willing to avoid doing it.

The warm sun on the snow during the day had caused a slick layer of ice to cover everything, and Tesa picked her way down the rocky path carefully. This path was less established than the stairway she'd taken earlier, and sometimes the rocks were so large and uneven that she was afraid her foot would slide in between them and get stuck or cause her to twist her ankle.

Finally she emerged onto the well-maintained main path that clung to the side of the ridge over Areth's deep valley. The cave entrance she was looking for wasn't far from here. It was in the middle of a neighborhood, down an offshoot from the main path. Tesa climbed up the fork in the path, her trek illuminated on either side by the lights in the windows of the houses that seemed to grow out of the rock like tenacious trees.

The slope leveled out into a section of road that was flatter, with room for larger, more free-standing houses, though they were backed by more rock peaks. Tesa wound through the narrow lanes among the houses until she came to the alley at the far side. She dipped into the alley and followed it to its end: a battered wooden door. It creaked open and Tesa entered into a surprisingly well-lit passage. She knew from previous explorations that the residents of these homes used the passages in the rock to store things as well as to make their way from building to building without having to step outside during the winter, or in the rain.

Mage lights in different colors bobbed about by the ceilings, so Tesa knew that a mage or mages were somewhere nearby maintaining the light. Perhaps the mage was a resident of the neighborhood, or perhaps the neighborhood employed mages to keep their caverns lit.

Tesa kept going straight instead of taking one of the side passages, which would have led to the back doors of many of the homes. As the lights grew dimmer and more infrequent, Tesa began to see signs warning her away. Finally, she came to a gate across the passage. Beyond it the cavern was dark.

The gate wasn't locked, only latched with a hook at about the height of Tesa's eyes. She figured the gate was meant to protect the children who lived in these homes from getting lost in the caverns.

Tesa opened the gate and closed it again softly. After a few paces, she lit her own mage light and continued on down the path.

She was the first to arrive at the door they had discovered. It was barely distinguishable from the rest of the rock wall around it, except for the carved symbol, which had been almost obscured by dust. While she waited for the others, Tesa drew magic energy from the rocks around her to create more magelights, giving the small cavern around her a little more light and warmth.

Eriya and Fenn both arrived from the opposite direction that Tesa had, and they arrived walking together. Tesa's eyebrows furrowed, and Fenn answered before she could ask the question.

"We ran into each other when we were already in the caves. I walk faster, I guess."

"Nobody saw us," said Eriya, and Tesa knew it was true when Eriya said it, because she was constantly suspicious of being followed.