Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Will studied me for a long time before he spoke. “You’re sure of this?”

I snorted. “The mummies can vouch for me. They caught fire.”

Will folded his arms over his chest and stared ahead as he furrowed his brow. “Interesting. . .”

My heart skipped a beat. “Interesting is good, right?”

He cupped his chin in one hand. “Perhaps. Can you show me this sword?”

I blinked at him before I dropped my gaze to my hand. “I. . .I’m not sure, but I can try.”

I focused all my attention on my palm, but nothing happened. Not a spark or even a flicker of a flame. After a half minute of concentration, I let out a breath and my shoulders slumped.

Will set a hand on my drooping shoulder. “There’s no need to be disappointed. New magic doesn’t always come easily.”

I flexed my fingers and frowned. “I was hoping it would.”

“It may, but we’ll need to investigate further.”

I looked up at him. “By going to that one place you mentioned? The Godthingy?”

He smiled down at me. “Gottspake. She has a great deal of knowledge of magical items. However, there’s someone I would like to see first. Her name is the Arbiter.”

The title tickled a memory in my mind. “The Arbiter? I think Helen mentioned her. Isn’t she some sort of a sage?”

Will nodded. “And ancient even to us dragons. I haven’t been able to decipher how old or all that she knows, but she’ll be able to tell us what we want to know about your powers.”

I raised one hand and studied the palm as I flexed my fingers. “I would like to know what’s going on and how I’m supposed to control it.”

“Then let’s be off to her,” Will suggested as he rapped his knuckles against the roof of the carriage. He spoke in a loud, clear voice. “Arbiter!”

The carriage turned sharply and I yelped as I was flung against Will. He caught me in his arms and smiled down at me. I sheepishly smiled up at him. “Sorry. I guess I still don’t have my carriage legs. They’re not exactly common in my world.”

He chuckled as he righted me. “No need to apologize. I enjoyed the catch.”

I tried to scoot over but I noticed a problem. His arms were still wrapped around me. “I think I can sit up on my own.”

His eyes twinkled as he drew my back against his side. “I’m only trying to avoid another mishap.”

I tilted my head back to look up at him. “Is that what you call it?”

“More or less.”

I didn’t have any further desire to remove myself from his warm embrace. The catacombs had left more than a mental impression on me. Their cold and dank interiors had chilled my bones and I was glad for Will’s warmth.

Our bliss was interrupted by the jostling of the carriage. I was lifted off the seat and dropped back down with all the grace of a belly flop. Will glanced out the window and furrowed his brow. “The street is worse than I remember.”

“Are you sure we’re still on a street?” I wondered as I scooted across his lap and looked out the glass.

The buildings were still as ancient as those around the Grimton but there were more of them huddled together like beggars on a cold winter’s eve. The number of floors varied with most having but one with a single sloped roof that ran front to back so that all the rainwater dropped into an open sewer. Dusty windows stared at us like black-eyed villains. Many of the windows sported broken glass and rotten wood boards. The reasons for the bumpy ride were the many potholes and loose stones that littered the road.

Everything just screamed destitution. I turned my head to the right where Will looked out the window with me. “The Arbiter lives here?”

“More or less.”

My face drooped and an eyebrow twitched. “You’re getting very vague.”

He smiled. “The Arbiter doesn’t so much live as exist and I suspect the form she shows to us isn’t her true one.”

My heart skipped another beat. This world was going to drive me into an early grave. “Then nobody knows who or what she really is?”

He shook his head. “Not at all.” I wrung my hands together as I pondered the coming interview. Will set a hand over mine and I looked up to find him smiling down at me. “There’s no need to worry. The Arbiter and I are old friends and I can’t think of any reason why she won’t be the same to you.”

His words soothed my frayed nerves. The carriage rolled to a stop a few minutes later and Will stepped out. He turned and offered me his hand which I accepted. I stepped down and found us standing in front of-

“A shack?” I wondered as I looked over the decrepit building.

The building, if it could be described that, was only about ten feet square with leaning walls and a matted roof so old the moss was stacked in layers. One could have figured out the age just by counting the strata of flora. A mess of rocks and weeds choked the patch between the street and the door. Calling it a lawn was too kind. The front had a single dirty window that faced us and the interior was hidden by a ragged curtain. A soft light shone through the thin cloth.

I looked up at Will who admired the home with a faint smile. “I guess she’s home?”

“She never leaves,” Will told me as he grasped my hand. “Now let’s see what we can learn about that flaming sword of yours.”

He guided me up to the door and rapped. Though his touch was light, the whole building shuddered beneath his call. I strained my ears to hear something from inside. Big mistake.

“COME IN!”

The loud voice made me jump back and only Will’s confident hold kept me from crashing backward into the mess. He gave me an encouraging smile before he pressed his hand against the handle-less door and opened the portal. The hinges screeched and I winced against the noise.

The door opened wide enough to reveal a completely black interior. It was as if there was a line of shadows that started only four inches from the threshold and shrouded everything in its dark embrace. I squinted at the blackness as Will drew his hand close to his chest.

“Don’t be afraid,” he whispered before he led me across the threshold.

I felt a strange chill fall over me and the darkness didn’t lift. For one panicked second instinct told me to turn around and flee. Only Will’s strong grip kept me from bolting like a wild deer.

We took a few steps into the darkness and it was as if a curtain was drawn back. The darkness vanished and we stepped into the bright lights of a huge ballroom. A large chandelier hung over our heads and cast a brilliance not unlike the sun on us. I couldn’t even see the source of the light through its glow.

The ugly walls I expected were instead elegant wood panel affairs with ornate tapestries that stretched for dozens of yards. They featured scenes of hunting, shopping, swimming, of families gathering together. Any scene you could imagine, they showed on those walls.

The only furniture was a giant loom that sat in the middle of the floor. A woman was seated on its bench. She was robed in a long white dress and flat-footed dress shoes. The stranger was about twenty with silver-gray hair that trailed down her back to drape over the floor. Her eyes were of an equally gray color and her skin was as pale as a lily.

Her features were difficult to describe. While she appeared young there were some tiny lines at the corners of her mouth that belied something far older.

Her thin fingers worked the loom as only an expert could manage. The shuttle flew and under her touch, a fabric appeared as though out of thin air. Images of people, mountains, animals, flowers, and everything else under the sun and the moon were brought to life. The cloth was crafted from a single albeit huge pile of finely twined wool, but I couldn’t comprehend how all those colors came from the plain white hair.

The woman looked up from her loom work at our entrance and she lifted her fingers from the machine. The loom paused and I felt a strange vibration travel through the air. It was as if a great piece of music had been paused.

The woman turned to us with a smile and clasped her hands in her lap. “Welcome, my guests, to my home.”