I shook away the depressing thoughts. I had to focus on what seemed an inevitable battle, be ready to fight or run.
Across the road, one of the creatures landed in the tree that Li was hiding under. I stifled a groan and held my breath. From my spot, I could clearly see its hollow eye sockets scanning the road, as if it were a living bird.
It jerked its skull of a head up, and I was sure it had spotted me. But its head swiveled to the side, and it sprang out of the tree.
I sensed a dragon—a living dragon—at the edge of my range, though I was more confused than relieved. It was Xilneth. I hadn’t seen him since he’d admitted to being forced to work for the Silverclaw dragon that had hired an assassin to come after me. What was he doing here?
Ruin Bringer! he blurted into my mind. Are you in that forest? I sensed you before, but then you disappeared. And all these dreadful flying bone bags are coming toward me. What are these foul things?
He wasn’t speaking into my mind, I realized, but broadcasting telepathically to the whole forest. I hoped the undead creatures couldn’t understand him.
I’m here, I risked replying, though I worried the undead creatures would hear my telepathic thoughts. I tried to pinpoint Xilneth with them.
What are you doing here? he asked at the same time that I sent the same question to him.
A half-dwarf thief who is trying to get my sword from me whooshed me to this world.
That is not the answer I expected. The stuffy and haughty Lord Zavryd’nokquetal said you were on your own planet. I did not think to find you—ah, they give chase!
I dropped my forehead into my hand. Get out of here, Xilneth. Zav and I fought those guys the other day, and they’re tough.
I was sent here to scout. I did not know I would immediately be set upon.
Who sent you?
The Stormforge Clan queen. My role in obeying Mythrarion Silverclaw is now known to all, and even my own clan is ashamed of me. I heard about the big meeting and that there is a problem on the dwarven home world, and I volunteered to help. To redeem myself!
Xilneth had to be fleeing the creatures, for I no longer sensed him, but his words came through loud and clear. Hopefully, he could still hear mine. My telepathy was much weaker than a dragon’s.
Zav already knew about the undead creatures. Why would the queen send you to scout?
We must know who is responsible for summoning them!
Do you know about the lich? As I asked the question, it occurred to me that I had only Li’s word as to what we were dealing with, but it did make sense that someone—something—powerful and with a link to the undead was behind making the skeletal creatures.
The what? Xilneth asked.
I’m told there’s a dragon lich.
A dragon would never allow himself to be made into such a creature!
Maybe you can take it up with the things chasing you.
Ah, they are driven. Why do they attack me? Ow!
Get out of here, Xilneth. You can’t fight that many.
He didn’t reply, and I frowned down at the moss under my feet. He wouldn’t truly let them catch him when he could make a portal and leave any time, would he?
I wished he’d made it all the way to us, so he could make a portal so I could leave. Maybe it wasn’t too late for that.
Xilneth? Are you still here?
Again, he didn’t answer. Across the road, Li stepped warily out of the brush. I could no longer sense the creatures. They’d all flown after Xilneth.
They have wounded me! Xilneth told me just as I’d assumed he had already left. His voice didn’t resonate as strongly in my mind, so he must have flown farther away. I will be forced to make a portal and flee.
I suppose there’s no chance you can come open it near me so I can jump through too?
I am far from you now. They are trying to cut me out of the sky. I knocked one into a cliff and destroyed it, but there are so many more. I do not wish to fail again, Ruin Bringer!
If you were just sent to scout, and you found something, I don’t think you’ve failed.
After a long moment, Xilneth quietly admitted, The queen did not send me. She did not even acknowledge me when I came to the court.
Then why are you here?
I thought I was crafty enough to figure out what’s going on and to find Lord Braytokinor and solve the problem myself. This would show the others that I am not an embarrassment to our kind.
The way he said that made me think he was quoting someone. Not Zav, I hoped.
Just tell your people that there’s a lich and that they need to get here pronto and en masse to deal with it, please. Oh, and let Zav know I’m here and that I wouldn’t mind a ride back to Earth.
I could give you a ride if I weren’t being harried like some weakling prey! Let me attempt to get to you.
No, just give my message to your people. Someone needs to know about the lich and do something about it. And Zav needed to know I was here, so I didn’t get stuck going into some lich lair with a crazy half-dwarf on a mission.
I wish to be heroic! A proper dragon! Why are there so many of these foul things? I—
I rubbed my forehead again. Out of all the dragons who could have popped up on this world, I had to get the teenage hippy, as Zav called him.
But then, what other dragon, besides Zav himself, would have bothered communicating with me or even recognized me if they’d shown up here?
Get yourself out of trouble, Xilneth, and pass along my message. Please!
He didn’t reply. I couldn’t sense him, but after a few quiet moments, Li hustled back under cover. The creatures sailed into range of my senses, and my stomach sank.
Had they given up because Xilneth made a portal and fled this world? Or had they, when he’d been distracted talking to me about heroics, caught him and killed him?
My camouflage charm was still active, and I willed Chopper to hide Li again, in case it had helped before. Then I leaned my forehead against the tree, birch-like bark cool against my skin, and willed myself to blend into the trunk so they wouldn’t notice me.
The creatures flew past overhead without stopping to search for us. Maybe they’d forgotten we were here.
Or maybe—I grimaced as I sensed them flying straight toward the black mountain—they were reporting back to their master that they’d killed Xilneth… and that we were out here somewhere.
22
Twilight settled on the forest as I sat in the moss, leaning my back against a tree, Chopper in its scabbard at my side. Li paced in front of me, thumping her fist against her thigh and muttering to herself in Chinese.
She could mutter all she wanted. I wasn’t continuing on. This was her quest. It wouldn’t become my quest until the lich was cleared out from the mountain and it was safe to stroll inside to visit the repository of knowledge. I’d waited ten years to learn Chopper’s secrets; I could wait ten more if need be. Though I trusted Zav’s people would be along to deal with this problem sooner than that.
Li stopped, faced me, and jammed her fists against her hips. “We must continue to the mountain.”
“I’m not going,” I said for the tenth time.
After the near miss with the flying skeletons, I’d refused to go farther. I’d been sitting under this tree for the last hour.
“I am positive there will be a device in there that can create a portal to take us back to Earth,” Li said.