Chapter 24
24
Something buzzing around her face woke Kaley. She was in deep sleep and didn’t want to leave it. Her side was on the cold ground but her back was deliciously warm.
The buzzing got louder, then came a light so bright she could see it through her closed eyelids. “I’ll feed the chickens later,” she murmured, and turned over to her other side. When a warm arm pulled her closer, she smiled. It was Tanek’s arm, and his big, warm body was against her face.
The vibrating thing landed on her ear. It was so annoying that she swatted at it.
“Ow! You hurt me!”
“Sorry,” Kaley said, but she still didn’t open her eyes.
Suddenly, a cacophony of animal noises rose. The baby elephant cried out, the dodo squawked, the swans honked and Tibby gave his high-pitched cry.
Kaley moved one hand over her ear. Her other hand was under something and she hoped it wasn’t the giant tortoise. A hand smoothed her hair back.
“You all right?” Tanek asked over the noise.
“Fine.” She snuggled closer to the warmth of his body. “Perfectly fine.”
It was his laugh that made her open her eyes. They were on the ground, wrapped around each other, her face buried in his chest, his arms around her—and between them was something called “morning wood.”
She pushed away and sat up. “Sorry. I...” She didn’t know what to say.
Tanek didn’t seem to be bothered. “Anytime.” He raised his heavy brows at the noise. “What have you done to set them off?”
“Me? I didn’t do anything.” She kept her face turned away to give him privacy.
“What’s causing this chaos?” Sojee was glaring down at them. He noted Tanek’s condition but made no remark.
Kaley held her arms out to Tibby and he leaped into them. “Something was buzzing in my ear, then there was a light and—” She looked at Tanek, eyes wide. “Arit!”
“Arit!” he echoed.
“I’m awake,” Kaley called out as she tried to soothe the animals. “Arit, I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was—”
“She knows not to startle sleeping people,” Tanek said.
“Please come back,” Kaley said loudly. The animals were calming down from whatever had upset them. She held out her hand. “Please?” When Arit landed on her hand, she saw the looks of shock on the men’s faces. This was clearly unusual for a Never to do. “Has something happened?”
The light that surrounded Arit was so bright it was hard to see her. It looked as though Kaley was holding one of the witch’s fireballs. “They took Mekos.”
“She said—” Tanek began.
“I heard her,” Kaley said. “Who took him? Where?”
“I don’t know.” Arit was about to cry. “I followed as best I could but they were so big.”
“ Who was big?” Tanek asked.
“Do not snap at her!” Kaley said. “She’s upset, and she needs something soft to sit on.”
Without turning, Tanek held out his hand to the dodo. The bird removed a few of its soft, curly feathers. Tanek took them, but he didn’t give them to Kaley. He made a nest of them in his hand and Arit went to him. “Where is my son?” he asked.
“Above the Mist.”
Kaley and Tanek exchanged looks, then explained to Sojee. They had no idea what that meant.
“I’ll ask Daln,” Sojee said. “I can’t understand her anyway.” He hurried off.
Kaley was too interested in what Arit was saying to question Sojee’s meaning.
Arit tried to calm down enough to tell what happened. When she described the flying animals that chased Mekos, Tanek looked at Kaley.
“Sounds like griffins. Half eagle, half lion,” she said.
“What is a leon?”
“Lion. Cat family,” she said. “I guess the eagle head makes them acceptable here.”
Sojee returned with a mug of beer. Tanek took the leather pouch out of his pocket and opened it to withdraw the tiny spoon. After Arit had had four spoonfuls, she was able to calm down enough to finish the story. When she told them Mekos had been riding Nessa’s dragon, the others exchanged looks. “I tried to follow but I couldn’t.” Tears rolled down Arit’s cheeks. “The Mist stopped me but it let them go through. How can that be? Now Mekos is gone forever.”
Tanek wanted to reassure her. “My son does many things in secret,” Tanek said. “Riding that dragon is proof that he’s up to something. He—”
Kaley cut him off. “She said a net was thrown over him.”
“Sometimes boys do things in secret. He—” Sojee began but stopped as he looked at the tabor on Kaley’s lap.
Tibby was looking toward the woods, his teeth bared in threat.
“Someone’s here.” Tanek reached for the knife at his side.
When Kaley looked at the trees, she saw something, but it moved away quickly. “It’s an animal, one that I didn’t see yesterday.” She looked back at the men. “We have to find Mekos.” She looked up at Sojee. “What is this Mist?”
The men were staring at her.
“What kind of animal?” Tanek asked.
“I don’t know. They’re all tame so there’s no danger.” They still stared at her. “A sort of bear but not very big. Okay! A reddish-brown bear with a long tail. It’s probably some creature that’s extinct on Earth and it—”
“By all that’s holy,” Sojee whispered, and looked at Tanek. “You are a dead man. Say hello to my cousin. He died over twenty years ago.”
Arit stood up in her feathered nest, gave a hiccup, then flew away so fast she almost ran into Sojee’s eye. He ducked to the side and she whizzed past.
“What’s going on?” Kaley asked.
Tanek stood up quickly, put his shoulders back and seemed to brace himself. He looked like a soldier about to go into battle.
When Kaley stroked Tibby’s fur, she found that it was standing on end. “I think he’s afraid of something.”
“And well he should be,” Sojee said cheerfully.
“Stand by me,” Tanek said to him.
“I value my own life too much.” Sojee was grinning.
“ What is this about?” Kaley asked. “If you’re afraid of the animals, I’ll protect you.” She was half-serious but when she stood up, Tanek caught her arm.
“Go to Daln. This isn’t your fight.”
“Fight? I—” She didn’t say more because out of the woods ran a... Kaley wasn’t sure what it was. It seemed to be on all fours but it had a woman’s face, then it stood up on legs as straight as a human’s. She was beautiful, with lots of flowing red-brown hair. She wore loose trousers and a jacket of colors that perfectly blended with the forest. When she halted in front of Tanek, Kaley could see the long, beautiful tail that stuck out of her jacket. It was easy to guess who she was: Mekos’s mother.
“What have you done with my son?” she demanded. Her nose was rather sharp and it was pointed at Tanek as though she meant to pierce his face.
“He ran off on Prince Nessa’s dragon.” Tanek was standing rigid, unmoving—as were all the animals. Not one of them was making a sound. Tibby was by Kaley’s feet and was as stiff as though he’d turned to stone.
The woman stepped closer to Tanek, almost touching him. “My son is afraid . I can feel it.”
Tanek’s face changed from calm to alarmed. “Where is he?”
In an instant the woman was attacking Tanek. She was in a rage! It was anger and fear combined. She tried to bite, claw, kick.
In what looked to be a much-practiced movement, Tanek pulled her to him, pinning her flailing arms down to her sides. She struggled hard against him.
The animals went back to screeching at full volume.
Sojee backed away, watching them in curiosity and with some amusement.
When the woman dug her nails into Tanek’s thighs and he grunted in pain, Kaley stepped forward. She didn’t know about half humans but she knew about animals. Reaching out, she stroked the woman’s long hair. “It’s all right,” she said softly. “We’ll find him. Daln knows all about the Mist, and Arit knows where Mekos went. All we have to do is go get him.”
She could feel the woman begin to relax. Kaley tapped Tanek’s shoulder, meaning that he was to release his hold on her. He was reluctant, but he did so.
The woman turned to Kaley and let her hold her. She was smaller and more fragile than she’d first appeared. “We’ll find him. Did you know that Mekos made those big eagles obey him? That’s how smart your beautiful son is. And he called Arit to him. He’s the cleverest kit there ever was, and we’ll bring him back to you.” When the animals stopped their noise, Kaley said, “Do you have friends who might have seen what happened?”
She nodded against Kaley’s shoulder.
“We need to go now because we have to find Nessa and rip him into tiny little pieces.” Kaley spoke so calmly that the woman almost laughed.
She lifted her head to look at Kaley. “Who are you?”
“An earthling. I’m visiting your beautiful planet.”
She pulled away, stared at Kaley for a moment, then turned to Tanek. “She is too good for you.”
Sojee laughed and Tanek grinned. “At last we fully agree on something.”
“I am Tokala. Toki.”
“Kaley Grace Arens.”
Toki stepped back and looked down at Tibby, who seemed ready to attack if necessary. “He is related to my father.” With that, she ran back into the woods, her tail held high, and disappeared.
Tanek turned to Kaley. “No one can tame her. You are an odd woman.”
“You have horns growing out of your back from when you used to be a bird , but I am weird?”
Sojee’s laugh rang out. “She has bested you. Again.”
Tanek gave a bit of a smile. “Let’s go find that sniveling, worthless little prince and see what price he charged my son for riding his dragon.”
Tanek took off across the grounds so fast that even Sojee had trouble keeping up with him. Kaley was running behind them—and behind her was a parade of animals.
It didn’t take long to find Nessa. Daln had a network of men who reported where the prince was.
“It’s worse than we thought.” Daln looked at Kaley, silently asking if he should tell in front of her.
Sojee said, “She can withstand it. Tell us.”
“There were two of them, both former cutting champions. They were ruthless in the ring and bad-tempered out of it. About a year ago, their violence was rewarded by being taken away to Empyrea.”
“But they came back,” Tanek said.
Daln nodded. “We think they were sent here to get the prince.”
“And take him to his father,” Tanek said. “Since we failed at the job.”
“But they got Mekos instead,” Kaley said. “When they find out their mistake, surely they’ll release him.”
The men looked at her, but she didn’t meet their eyes. She knew what they were thinking. Ruthless people weren’t kind. “We’ll...” She didn’t know what to say. “Do you think they’ll take money?”
“Perhaps,” Daln said. “Or issue a challenge.”
“I would like that,” Sojee said.
Tanek’s face looked hard, formed by some emotion that was past anger. “We were told they went above the Mist.”
Daln looked at them in shock. “They can’t—You can’t—”
Sojee stepped forward. “We need to talk to that little pile of dung.”
Daln nodded. “We prepared for that.” There were horses saddled and waiting, one of them Sojee’s heavy horse. A man was holding Kaley’s hooded sweatshirt. She’d nearly forgotten that outside the compound she had to hide the fact that she was a woman.
Minutes later, they halted at a tavern. Tanek dismounted and started toward the door, his steps pounding. Sojee caught his arm. “Listen first.”
Tanek nodded.
Nessa was in a private room in the back, seated at a table covered with plates and bowls full of food. He looked up at Tanek and Sojee, smiling, his mouth full. “I’ve been expecting you. Help yourselves.” He sounded pleased at his generosity.
Kaley pushed her hood back.
“I knew you had a woman with you!” He looked at Tanek. “You lied to me! My father won’t like that.”
“Where is my son?”
Kaley had never heard that tone from Tanek.
Nessa grimaced. “It’s always Mekos. Do you know how many times I’ve heard about the wonders of him? My own father said Mekos was so very handsome and so very smart. But he isn’t royal, and he doesn’t have a dragon. So I showed him what he was missing.”
Tanek grabbed the front of Nessa’s shirt and lifted him out of the seat.
“You can’t do that to me. You can’t touch me or—”
Sojee stepped forward. “Talk or I’ll let him kill you,” he said calmly.
Tanek dropped Nessa to the seat, but didn’t move away.
“They’ve been after me for weeks. I had no peace.” He was whining. “Those men were going to—”
Kaley spoke up. “If you don’t tell us about Mekos, I’ll help them remove your head.”
“I don’t know why you’re angry. I’m safe. My father will reward you well.”
Kaley took a step closer to him.
Nessa leaned back as far as he could. “Mekos always wanted to ride Perus, so I let him. You know that we look alike so the stupid men followed him. I had to walk away. On the road!” He stuck out his lower lip. “He took my dragon and hasn’t returned it.”
“They went through the Mist?” Kaley asked.
Nessa lifted his hand in dismissal. “You mean that old fog? I heard that it’s to keep out wolves and evil people. One time I tried to get Perus to fly into it, but he wouldn’t.” He sighed. “When those men see that it isn’t me who they hold, they’ll let him go. And he can return my robe. There are forty-two jewels on it! If he loses it, I will prosecute.”
Tanek grabbed Nessa’s shirtfront, then pulled back his fist to strike him.
Sojee said, “If he’s dead, we can’t exchange him for Mekos.”
Tanek halted, considering the words.
Nessa, still held by Tanek, yelped. “Exchange? Me? A prince for the son of a swanherder and a fox? He’s a freak. Worthless to anyone.”
Tanek put the sharp tip of a knife to Nessa’s cheek. “I swear to you that if my son is harmed, I will make you uglier than any of the men from their cutting games. Do I make myself clear?”
Nessa’s eyes widened, but he didn’t seem to believe that anyone would dare hurt a prince.
Kaley stepped forward and her voice was calm. “If you don’t go with us, I will call Perus to me. He will be mine forever.”
All the males looked at her in shock.
“Can she do that?” Nessa whispered in horror.
“Yes,” Tanek said. “She can.”
Sojee looked at the prince. “You are going with us and you’ll stand by us no matter what we have to do or where we have to go. Do you understand?”
Nessa nodded and when Tanek released him, he jerked away. “I warn you that my father will—”
Sojee leaned forward. “Are you sure your father cares enough about you to risk anything? Or even to pay a ransom?”
Nessa made no reply to that, but they could see that he was considering the matter.
“Get up,” Sojee said, and they left the tavern.
Daln and half a dozen men were waiting for them on the other side of the road. Big leather packs were tied onto their horses. “We have supplies,” Daln said. “Did you find out where to go? Do we take this one with us?” He was looking at Nessa as though he’d love to be put in charge of him.
“He’s going with us. He’ll need a horse,” Tanek said.
Nessa let out a whine. “No one cares about my dragon, and I haven’t been on a horse in years. I’ll be very uncomfortable.”
Sojee picked up the skinny boy by the shoulders, then set him down again. It demonstrated what could be done to him. Nessa shut his mouth.
While the men outfitted the horses, Daln told them what he’d found out. “The men headed toward the top of the mountain. People used to climb up there until...” He didn’t finish but they knew what he meant. Until the Yuzans, the so-called Peacekeepers, took over . “The horses won’t go up there. We’ve tried. They turn away at the Mist.”
“No one can get through?” Kaley asked.
“Some have but no one has ever returned. It’s said that a curse was put on the place to keep people out.”
Tanek looked at Kaley. “Which of your stories fits this?”
She shook her head. “A mountaintop that has a curse on it? There are too many tales to count. Is the mountain made of glass or does it float in the air? Is there a castle full of sleeping people? There’s probably a princess inside, or on this planet, it might be a prince in there. Sorry,” she said to Daln, who was looking at her in shock. “Please tell us what you know about this Mist.”
“Nothing of any use,” he said. “Animals disappear if they go through the Mist. A few men went in after their sheep but none of them returned. But it’s rare that anything can get through it, and then only by accident. Most of the time it’s solid.”
Kaley nodded. “I don’t know which story this is, but I know that there is a way to get past the barrier and stay alive. It could take true love or a hundred years has to pass. A virgin might be needed. Anyone?” The men kept staring at her. “I don’t know what story this is.” She thought. “I wonder if something that’s not alive could get through? A truck? Or a car? I bet they have cars on Empyrea. They probably park them next to their spaceships.”
They were silent, then Sojee spoke. “There are cars on this island. They’re kept at The Museum of Earth.”
“The what?” she asked.
Tanek said, “Jobi told me not to...” He paused, then said, “Yes. We’ll do whatever it takes to get my son back. Where is this place?” he asked Daln.