Chapter 12 Return and Revelation
RETURN AND REVELATION
Comfortably gliding above the Everburning Forest, Lark searched through the canopy, checking for signs of the rebel camp hidden in the understory.
“We’re approaching the wards. The camp should appear any minute now,” Venrick said into Lark’s ear.
His presence against her back on the long flight was a comfort she allowed herself to relish, only tainted slightly by Yarla’s presence.
White Eye descended at her directive. Lark felt the slight pull on their bodies as they passed through the web of enchantments.
Canvas tents appeared, exposing the expansive army of humans, elves, dwarves, and Morsythians.
As they soared in to land, Lark spotted unusual activity below.
Messengers darted between tents, soldiers abruptly stopped mid-training, their attention focused on troops returning from patrol.
“Something seems off,” Venrick said from over her shoulder.
“We’re going to make a pass over the camp before landing,” Lark acknowledged.
White Eye slowed his flight at her direction, circling the perimeter once before finding a clearing large enough to accommodate his size. As he cupped the air, battering the trees with his wing beats, Lark shared the slight unease he was feeling.
Their wards are intact and there doesn’t appear to be anything threatening them, Lark thought, trying to keep them both calm and rational in the moment.
Ezra emerged from the tree line before they had fully dismounted, his weathered face drawn with concern. The dwarf’s normally meticulous beard was unkempt. His scarred head was sprouting stubble where it was normally kept clean shaven, suggesting days without proper rest.
“Lark,” he said, breathy from his hustle.
“Cheyanne brought back word that you were alive and well, but I needed to lay me own eyes on you to believe it. You really have returned,” he said, helping her down from the saddle.
To her surprise the dwarf met her with a stout hug.
Lark held back for a moment, but when the warmth of his embrace settled, she returned the gesture.
Ezra pulled back, keeping her at arm’s length for a moment.
He quickly assessed her for injury, then stepped back to take in Venrick and the elf they’d returned with.
“Cheyanne’s had to split her focus away from the mission she’s planning.
We’ve been sending out more patrols to look but haven’t had any sign since we lost them. ”
“Wait, slow down,” Lark said. “What are you talking about? Lost who?”
“Err, so you don’t know,” he grumbled.
“Ezra, what’s happened?” Venrick asked, dropping lightly from White Eye’s back.
“Hardin’s gone,” Ezra replied. “He and his dragon left shortly after you went in search for Lark. The lad left without any warning, no message or nothing. Sasja won’t say anything as she’s sworn to secrecy on his behalf. He slipped right out of the camp as if the wards weren’t there at all.”
Lark exchanged a look with Venrick. “I know he’s a Ward Walker, but shouldn’t the camp’s wards have—”
“Alerted us at his dragon’s passing, yes,” Ezra cut in.
“We’re still trying to understand how he managed it.
Ingamar’s been trying to communicate with the elves but without the bond, it’s hard to know what he’s trying to say.
Hardin had just begun his training. He didn’t have the skill to manipulate wards enough to get a dragon through without disturbing them. ”
“Hardin pulled me through the portal, without Joc knowing,” Venrick said.
“I thought you were caught because the Magus sensed you passing through his wards,” Ezra corrected.
“Well, technically, yes, but it was a subtle enough passing that he didn’t notice right away,” Venrick argued.
“And you’re, what, two-hundred-and-twenty pounds?” Ezra suggested.
Venrick scoffed, “With armor on. I’m only one-ninety-five.”
“Exactly my point. Hardin’s dragon is young, but she’s still over six-hundred pounds.
He shouldn’t have been able to manage it with the level of magical manipulation that I’ve seen, although Hardin’s abilities with manipulating wards have gotten exponentially better since he formed the dragon bond with her. ”
“With her,” Lark repeated, imagining what it’s been like for Hardin to be navigating their newly formed connection.
“Aye, Quinthara,” he said. “We started calling her Quin for short. But,” he shook his head, “their disappearance isn’t all.
We’ve received reports of a new dragonrider ambushing a Lamar heavy force trying to claim Yogo Sapphires from a firestorm near Stormwatch.
This new rider seized all the Yogos and fled.
Neither Lamar nor Nordraven is claiming it was their rider.
The Kings are accusing Gambria, but all accounts we’ve gathered suggest a human dragonrider. ”
“A new rider?” Venrick’s brow furrowed in skepticism. “Besides Hardin and Quinthara?”
“We thought it could be true at first, as not all the Hyalites collected in recent history have been tapped into. Rumors of a new dragonrider in Wintermire have been circulating,” Ezra said.
“But the description both Vermillion Keep troops and Storm Keep troops gave matches Hardin and Quin’s appearance.
The witnesses claim the rider ‘bent’ their wards like they weren’t even there.
I should’ve known he was going to try and return to Doran. ”
“Hardin’s gone back to break the curse he originally set out to stop,” Venrick said.
“Why didn’t he wait until we’d returned? We could’ve helped him?” Lark said.
“He was going stir crazy being left behind in camp with me and several elves to help with his training. But without dragons, none of us can risk leaving the camp to chase him down. There’s more Knights and Paragons patrolling the forest borders than ever.
Once we found out he was gone, there wasn’t much else we could do.
I just hope he wasn’t captured.” Ezra shook his head, then gestured for them to follow.
“Cheyanne wants to speak with you immediately.”
As they moved through the camp, Lark noted the level of concern circulating in the atmosphere.
The soldiers moved like they’d just received new orders, checking their weapons, packing supplies, as if preparing for imminent action.
White Eye followed Lark, gaining attention from the bustling rebels as his massive head swung from side to side, tasting the air for threats.
Lark suddenly became aware that Ingamar was likely the only other dragon here.
A shiver ran through her at the idea of what the two male dragons might do to one another when they met.
The two dragons had fought on opposite sides in the battle for control of the Everburning Forest during Lark’s earlier career as Nordraven’s most formidable dragonrider.
Please keep your anger in, she thought toward him.
He responded with a sense of calm, assuring her that he wouldn’t attack unless Ingamar made him defend himself.
Ezra steered them into a centrally located tent.
When he pulled back the flap to enter, they found Cheyanne, bent over a table strewn with maps and unrolled scrolls.
Her silver-white hair was pulled back in a severe braid that wove down the center of her head stopping in the middle of her back.
When she looked up, her elven features hardened at the sight of Lark.
For a moment, old suspicions flickered in her eyes before settling into grudging acknowledgment.
“You’ve returned,” she said, straightening. “With information, I hope.”
Lark stepped forward. “More than just information. We know what the rimeshade are working toward, and what they’ve been doing with their stores of harvested magic.”
Cheyanne’s eyebrows rose slightly. “Then perhaps this journey of yours wasn’t a complete waste after all.” She glanced at Yarla, her expression softening. “You look better. The corruption has receded?”
“Somewhat,” Yarla replied. “Enough for me to be useful.”
Ezra closed the tent flap behind them, sealing them in with a sense of secrecy that made the air feel suddenly thicker. White Eye remained outside, but Lark felt his consciousness pressing against hers, monitoring the conversation through her.
“Tell me everything,” Cheyanne said, clearing a space at the table.
“We now know that the rimeshade’s magical surplus was in part going toward freeing the Entity White Eye alerted us to at the hidden sanctuary.
It’s how they were able to destabilize the wards to the point of unraveling.
We tried stopping it, but now that it’s free, we believe the Entity is planning something bigger.
” Lark removed the dragon-scale-bound book from her pack, placing it carefully on the map.
“We found this at the dragonrider sanctuary.”
Venrick stepped up beside her. “Yarla and Lark determined that the Entity that escaped was previously imprisoned there for centuries. This creature is the being who brought the rimeshade into existence. This text refers to the Entity as the Void Drinker and was bound to its prison by the original twelve dragons of Sataran.”
Cheyanne’s expression remained guarded, though her pointed ears wiggled slightly at the information. Lark could see the spark of interest in her eyes as she said, “Go on.”
“The object it stole,” Lark said.
“The Realmstone,” Cheyanne corrected.
“The Realmstone,” Lark continued. “Is an artifact that somehow helped seal the Void Drinker away. It seems that this ancient artifact can also be used to weaken the barriers between realms.”
“Weaken them how?” Ezra asked, scratching the scars on his tattooed head.
Yarla moved forward, placing her hand on the metal pages of the book. “The Flashover is approaching, a time when the barriers between all realms will already be naturally thin. With the Realmstone, this Void Drinker could tear them down completely.”