23. Tahlia

Tahlia and Marius readied for flight, adjusting saddles and checking bags and ties. They worked in silence to let Fara sleep a little longer.

A cough from Fara turned Tahlia around from where she’d been checking Lija’s girth strap. Fara sat up, blinking.

“Feeling better?” Tahlia asked.

“I am. Yes. Well, maybe.”

Tahlia brought her a skin of water. “You were right about the plant and the dragons. I ate some of the leaves and now Vodolija can communicate with me.” Tahlia tapped her temple.

Fara’s face lit up as she looked at Tahlia. “Really?”

Tahlia nodded. “Yes!”

Fara drank a healthy amount and handed the skin back to Tahlia. Her sluggish movements gave away the lingering fatigue of her experience.

Beside Ragewing, Marius frowned and grew still. His hands were poised over one of his smaller satchels. “What are you two talking about?”

Another cough shook Fara, and she seemed to have forgotten about Marius’s question. “We are leaving now, right? We have the High Captain, I see. Insane mission accomplished.” She faced Marius. “Are you cursed? Did you break it?”

Marius grunted, and his jaw muscles worked.

“He can’t tell us,” Tahlia said, “but yes, he is, and no, we didn’t. We still have a lot of things to do here before we can leave.”

Tahlia looped an arm around Fara and helped her to stand. She was steady enough and Tahlia was thrilled to see it.

“I’m guessing these aren’t tasks I’m going to be happy about,” Fara said.

Tahlia smiled. “Definitely not.”

“Why are you dragon riders so enamored with creative ways to end yourselves?”

Marius’s lips tilted up for a second, and Tahlia’s heart soared to see him doing so well. Was the curse easing off of him because Katk was awake and Marius had done as Ophelia’s monster required by digging up his bones?

Trevain introduced himself to Fara and spent a few minutes filling her in on all the happenings while Marius and Tahlia tended to Ragewing’s and Lija’s old injuries.

“Trevain reminds me of someone,” Tahlia said.

Marius raised an eyebrow. “Who?”

“I’m not sure. His face just looks like someone I know. It’s odd.”

Marius frowned, and Tahlia shrugged as she finished corking the unguent Fara had brought. She placed the leather-wrapped bottle in one of the saddlebags.

Don’t forget to have him eat the plant,Lija said.

“Ah! Right. Thanks.”

“Who are you talking to?” Marius scowled and looked from Tahlia to Trevain and Fara.

Fara walked over on slightly unsteady feet and Lija bent so she could climb on. Tahlia and Marius each gave her a hand up.

“Wait here,” Tahlia said to Marius.

She searched the ground until she found some of the blood-red plant. She plucked a bit and handed it over to Marius, careful not to touch him.

His lip lifted, showing his teeth.

“Shh, you’re fine,” she said, “and I’m fine. I know not to touch you. Now, eat that.”

“Why would I?” Marius demanded.

“Because I told you to.” Tahlia winked.

Fara and Trevain laughed. Marius grunted unhappily, but he shoved the plant into his mouth and chewed. His furrowed brow cleared. His mouth fell open.

“Ragewing?” he said quietly.

“Fara and Lija introduced me to this plant,” Tahlia explained. “It sparks the ability for riders to hear their bonded dragons.”

Marius faced Ragewing and had a hurried conversation, then Marius went silent though he still focused on his Heartsworn. He spun to face Tahlia. “But we can’t speak back inside our minds?”

“We can. But it’s not easy.”

It is worth practicing, though, yes?Lija said.

“Definitely. Lija said we should practice and see if we can manage it after a while.”

The effects should last forever. Once the talent blossoms, it remains. The plant is rare. It only grows in this land. My forefathers once lived here, hidden deep under the land’s surface, where the sea flowed through secret caves.

“That is amazing.”

“I’m jealous of this new thing,” Fara said. “I’ll be the big person and admit it.”

“Why aren’t you stelling me we are going to die from eating it? I’m impressed you’re merely fretting over my friendship with Lija and how it might affect ours. Which it won’t.”

They took off into the sky, heading in the direction Katk had gone. Clouds whisked by, the air cold and sickly sweet with Katk’s disgusting odor.

“Firstly, I’m not shouting warnings because I researched the plant. That’s why I even bothered to tell you about it. Its effects on Fae are established and I have that information. Secondly, well, this is all just too much,” Fara said. “Once you’ve hit this level of emergency, there is little point in warning everyone. We all know it’s likely that death is about to greet us. Will we end up like you, Trevain?”

“I don’t know. I suppose it’s possible, but I died from the natural plague the Mistgold Fae brought. Your kind.”

“Easy, ghost,” Fara said. “Don’t throw accusations at me. I wasn’t alive back then. Not even close. I might be half dead, but I’m more alive than you and I can find a way to teach you manners.” She cracked her knuckles.

This time, Tahlia had put Fara in the saddle’s main seat. She didn’t want her friend falling and it was easier to keep a hold on her from the back.

“Also, why is everyone so mean to Trevain?” Fara asked. “I’m ecstatic you’re here and helping us,” she said to the ghost. “Without you, we would be clueless.”

Trevain glowed brightly and lifted his chin, his ghostly robes fluttering in the wind. “Thank you, Lady Fara.”

“Are you secure there, Lady Tahlia?” Marius called out in his Mistgold Fae voice. It echoed in her ears like drums and she bit her lip, loving the power behind it. She would save him. Somehow.

Trevain streamed along between the dragons. “You will most likely die of the revenge plague and I’ve seen no ghosts of those who suffered that fate.”

Katk’s stone-and-moss-colored head came into view over a tumble of high hills. The stench was overpowering.