Chapter 7
We continued on our way through the dark and lonely streets.
Everything was a new and exciting experience for me, so foreign was this city.
It was like being thrown into a familiar and yet unfamiliar world where the rules of structure still reigned, but the designs were slightly unfamiliar.
Wooden and stone houses were built in the same style, but there were flowered designs, colors, and other ornamentation that were foreign to me.
Even the flowers in the boxes were different.
Their petals were known to me, but their scents and shapes were strange.
There were long ones and stubby ones, and others that curled and dipped into little animal shapes.
I couldn’t help but admire one of the blooming plants. It was a brilliant purple-hued specimen. I slipped out of Marc’s gentle hold and reached out for the flower.
“Watch it!” Ramaro snapped.
I blinked at him. “Why-”
Movement out of the corner of my eye made me jerk my hand back. The flower had lashed out at me, and its petals made a snapping sound like breaking bones. I yelped and flew back into Marc’s bemused arms.
“I’d tell you to watch your fingers, but I like these results.”
My face drooped. “Would I be missing a few if that-” I paused and glared at the flower. The plant merely twisted around like a Bali dancing girl, “-that thing had gotten a hold of me?”
Marc’s good humor dropped away, and he looked down his nose at me. “It would have stolen your soul.”
The color drained from my cheeks, and my mouth hit the ground. That’s when Marc burst out laughing, as did the lizard at our feet. Realization dawned on me, and I frowned at the two of them.
“It won’t steal my soul, will it?”
“Only if you have a soul as small as a mouse,” Marc told me as he nodded at the plant. “It’s used in gardens to catch rodents.”
“Much better than a cat,” Ramaro added with a solemn nod. “Don’t have to give it any more than water, and it doesn’t wake you up at night yowling.”
The mention of cats brought to mind our last adventure with one. I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered.
Marc cocked his head to one side and studied me. “Are you feeling alright?”
“Yeah, just a little tired,” I told him as I swept my eyes over the area and found we stood in a small enclave of cottage-like houses. “Are we almost there?”
“We’re only halfway there.”
My shoulders drooped, and I swore my feet became that much heavier. “Oh.”
“I could carry you.”
That got me thinking about something, and I looked over his back. “By flying?”
“No!” Ramaro spoke up as his tail whipped behind him, so much so that his balance was thrown off with each swing. “You’re not supposed to use that power, especially with your patch as weak as it is. It could slip off.”
A little color drained from my face as I recalled what had happened the last time the mask had slipped. “You can’t control yourself in that form.”
Marc stared ahead and pursed his lips. “Not always.”
“So can anyone else turn into a dragon?”
“Not that I know of.”
“And you’re not going to tell me how you can do that.”
“No.”
I felt a twinge of hurt. “Why?”
“Because of the danger.”
That piqued my interest. “You mean more danger than I’ve already been in?”
“Much more.”
A shudder ran through me. “I don’t think I want that.”
“What I want is for you two to talk less and walk faster,” Ramaro snapped as he hurried ahead of us. “There’s no telling when we’ll run into a group of Ironshores-”
“Halt!”
We all skidded to a stop and turned to our left, where a street meandered its way out of sight.
What wasn’t out of sight was a group of half a dozen burly men with beards and dark eyes.
They were dark uniforms under heavy leather armor.
Short swords were strapped to one hip, and the other had a holster for a pistol.
Some of the men pointed those guns at us. None of them looked friendly.
Marc inclined his head and smiled at the men. “Good evening, gentlemen. What can we do for you?”
The largest in the group, evidently the leader, marched toward us with his entourage at his heels. “You can explain what you’re doing out here so late.”
“Just taking a stroll.”
The men stopped only five feet away from us, and the leader nodded at faint wisps of mist, all that remained of the fog bank. “In the fog?”
Marc nodded at a nearby house that featured a lit lamp post near the road. “We like to admire the lights in the fog.”
The man held out his hand. “You can do that while I admire your port papers.”
My heart skipped a beat, but Marc didn’t. “Of course,” he agreed as he reached into his long overcoat and drew out a few slips of paper, which he handed to the man. “I’m sure you’ll find everything in order.”
“I’m sure. . .” the man mumbled as he inspected the documents. His eyes flitted over each of us, but paused at Ramaro. “What’s that? A pet?” Ramaro cocked his head to one side and flicked out his tongue.
“Just something we picked up out of the sea,” Marc assured him. That earned him a dark look from our lizard friend.
The man squinted at Ramaro. “He looks like an agama. They’re banned from the capital.”
Marc feigned surprise. “Are they? Why?”
The corners of the leader’s lips twitched up. “One of them hid in an admiral’s birthday cake a few years back and stole a priceless necklace.”
Marc scooped up Ramaro and used a stiff hand to pat him on the head. “Well, I’m sure our lizard friend here won’t make that much trouble.”
The guard handed back the papers, and I took a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. “Mind you stay clear of the thickest of the fog. The Phantom is said to be out and about every night now searching for something to steal.”
“We’ll be careful, sir,” Marc promised as he pocketed the documents.
“Goodnight then.”
“‘Night.”
The men strolled past us, but one of them in the rear paused and half-turned in our direction. He squinted at Marc, and my blood ran cold at his sharp look. “You look familiar.”
Marc had a smile on his face, but I could see the tension in the rest of his body. “Do I?”
The man’s eyes widened, and he stabbed a finger at Marc. “One blue eye, and a patch over his left one! Commander, it’s the pirate captain Torvus!”
His commander spun around, as did the rest of the group, and his beard trembled. “What?!”
Marc grinned at the men and crossed one arm over his chest before he swept into a low bow. “At your service, gentlemen.”
The commander balled his hands into fists, and his nostrils flared. “Get him!”
Marc straightened and grabbed the bottom of his eye patch. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, men.”
The men skidded to a stop a few feet shy of where we stood. Ramaro and I slipped behind our bold leader, and I glanced at him. He gave me a look of warning to keep my mouth shut. I was only too glad to oblige.
The man in the lead straightened and puffed out his chest. “Your magic is useless on shore, pirate.”
“Do you really want to try that?” Marc challenged him as he pinched the patch between his two fingers.
The man twisted his head around and set his gaze on his commander. “Sir?”
The commander sneered at Marc. “Grab him.”
Another of the men leered at me. “And the others, sir?”
A crooked grin slipped onto the commander’s face. “Have a little fun and then we’ll bring her along.”
The men let out a whoop and charged at us.
Marc narrowed his blue eye and lifted the patch only a fraction of an inch.
A gust of wind blasted out from beneath the stiff cloth and swept over the men.
They grimaced against the gale and dug in their heels.
The men leaned into the gust, but the wind continued its onslaught.
Trees bent under the fury, and stones and trash flew down the cobblestones.
The men were knocked off their feet and tumbled down the street.
Their commander was swept into their number and rolled along with them. They were soon out of sight.
Marc released his hold on his patch, and the cloth dropped back into place. The gust immediately ceased, and silence fell on the street.
I set my hand over my pounding heart and let out a heavy breath. “That was close.”
Ramaro squirmed in Marc’s hold. “You can let me go!”
The captain slipped his hands beneath Ramaro’s armpits and held him aloft in front of him. “Now you see why I need to do this.”
“You’re the one who got us into trouble there!” Ramaro snapped.
“Minor details,” Marc mused as he turned to me and nodded at my oversized coat. “Open up.”
I reluctantly opened the coat and revealed a small hammock-like bag strapped around my waist. Marc dropped Ramaro face-first in there like it was a kangaroo pouch. The agama’s muffled voice came out of the cloth as he thrashed about, his tail stuck in the air.
“Curfe you! Damf stufid humans!”
I slipped my hands inside and turned him around so his head stuck out. “Is that comfortable?”
He grasped the front of the pouch with his paws and glared up at me. “What do you think?”
“You can always swim back and start your mousing,” Marc suggested.
Ramaro cast him one last dark look before he ducked into the pouch. His dampened voice floated out to us. “Just close the coat and get on with it before those fools come back.”
I drew the two sides of the coat over him and buttoned them together. A bump appeared, and I couldn’t help but grin at my appearance. I turned to the side and looked at my companion. “What do you think? Do I look pregnant?”
He folded his arms over his chest and grinned. “The look suits you. You should make it more permanent.”
A heavy blush accented my cheeks, but I cleared my throat. “I, um, I hadn’t really thought about it.”
My ‘baby bump’ was knocked from the inside. “You have time to think about it while walking!”
Marc offered me his hand. “Shall we, my bearing bride?”
I couldn’t have looked any more embarrassed, but I took his hand. We had to look the part. At least, that was the excuse I gave myself as I let him lead me down the winding streets. The fog had completely vanished, and a faint light in the east told me a new day would begin within a few hours.
The skyline of the city was always accented by that pointed tower. I felt mesmerized by that peaked edifice, so high above even the majestic homes and public buildings. Its white exterior shimmered even in the darkness, helped along by a soft glow of light that emanated from the base.
The street widened and revealed the large square occupied by the tower. The imposing structure split the sky like a knife, and the torches positioned on either side of the doorway at its base gave off a soft red light. Its appearance reminded me of a blade aflame.
A question popped into my mind. It seemed to be put there by some exterior force. “Who built it?”