The sound of the woman’s voice resounded through the canyon, amplified so those above and below heard it clearly.
“And who is it you bring with you?” the soldier on the wall pressed.
Gelthea took in a breath to answer, but then turned her head to glance at Jaax and Ellyesce.
“The Tanaan dragon Raejaaxorix, an old friend to our city, and his companion, Ellyesce.”
It was Sapheramin who spoke this time, stepping out of her place in the formation and moving closer to the gate.
“Identify yourself, dragon,” the man demanded, his voice not impolite.
He held up a hand, and the archers made ready their arrows, the tight sound of stretching bowstrings scraping against their ears. Somewhere behind him, Jaax heard Tollorias growl.
“Peace, my brothers and sisters!” Sapheramin proclaimed. “I am Sapheramin, friend of his Majesty and a diplomat of Nimbronia.”
The guard on the wall lowered his hand, and the archers eased the tension on their bows.
“Forgive me, Lady Sapheramin,” the man said. “It is my duty to question all who approach our city.”
Sapheramin bowed her head. “Understood. And no offense taken. We generally arrive by air, not on foot.”
She gave him a cheerful grin and Jaax, with his keen eyes, caught the soldier’s similar gesture.
“Give us a few minutes to open the gate!” he called down.
Sapheramin stepped back into line, and as they waited, Jaax turned to glance down the steep path they had just ascended. The wide road was clear, save for the footprints they’d left behind in the snow. No one, from what he could tell, had followed them. Yet, he couldn’t seem to shake a strange feeling of being watched, as if someone remained just outside the range of his senses. Who it could be, he had no idea. If there truly was anyone at all.
Probably just your nerves still settling, he thought to himself.
A sharp crackling and ringing sound snapped his attention back to the front of the line, his contemplation left alone for the time being. The great frozen gate of Nimbronia was opening.
-Chapter Twenty-Three-
The City in the Clouds
Jaax waited on bated breath, fighting desperately against the urge to take wing and simply enter the city the same way he always had. Unfortunately, he was still very much drained from his ordeal that afternoon, and secondly, he didn’t think those posted on watch duty would simply let him push his way inside. The dragons’ entrance was clear on the other side of the city and far higher up the mountain than this gate. No, he’d have to curb his patience and wait. He had left Jahrra in one of the spare rooms high up the mountain, and the staff had been instructed to feed her and offer her a bath. With any luck, she’d be asleep by now, especially after everything she’d been through the past several weeks.
A twinge of guilt shot through him as he considered just that. He had been so busy investing his entire focus on getting them to Nimbronia and securing allies along the way, that he hadn’t taken the time to really think about what Jahrra had been dealing with. While he and Ellyesce had been acting the diplomats with the steward of Cahrdyarein, which had not benefited them one whit in the end, Jahrra had been making friends and putting her trust in the wrong people. His ward was headstrong, stubborn and fierce in her own right, but she also possessed more compassion than most people he knew, and she had a weakness for giving people the benefit of the doubt. It had worked out in Dervit’s case, but not in Keiron’s.
A low growl escaped Jaax’s throat as he thought about the young Resai elf again, that conniving little bastard. He should have sought him out first and set him aflame, then knocked him over the edge of the bridge for good measure.
Ellyesce shot a quick, concerned look in his friend’s direction, and Jaax squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head once.
The screech of ice scraping against stone came to an abrupt stop and Jaax realized the gate was finally fully open. Beyond those who stood in front of him, the sloping snow field stretched on a hundred feet or so and continued into the city. Men and women dressed in the silver, white and blue of Nimbronia scurried about with their business, carrying weapons, leading horses and preparing fires for their evening meals. The scent of smoke and roasting meat filled the air, and the steam rising from several cauldrons reminded Jaax of a den of young dragonlings, building fires in their dreams.
“Onward!” Gelthea cried, and the retinue was soon on the move again.
Once inside the gates, the injured and weary soldiers split away to tend to their own needs. Jaax glanced down at Ellyesce.
“I’ll leave you here, my friend,” the dragon said. “I need to speak with King Dhuruhn and report what has taken place at the southern overpass.”
The elf dropped his eyes in quiet contemplation. “I’m going to look into finding a place to stable Gliriant and see if I can locate Phrym and the other two horses. After that, I shall head up to the castle. I would like to check in on our young heroine and get a healer mage to take a look at her leg.”
This time, the smile Ellyesce gave Jaax was infectious.
Jaax nodded his agreement. “And see if you can find out what has become of the brave Dervit and our other friends from Cahrdyarein.”
They had disappeared up the mountain with another contingent of soldiers before Jaax returned to the bridge to finish the fight.
“I shall,” the elf pledged. “Until later this evening, then.”
Ellyesce gave a flourishing wave, then nudged his semequin down a wide cobbled path populated by people leading horses away in the same direction.
“Where are you off to now?”
Jaax turned to find Sapheramin regarding him with mild curiosity, Tollorias just behind her.
“Off to pay a visit to your king,” he responded mildly.
“Shall we join you?” the female Korli asked. “We are headed that way as well.”
Jaax nodded and soon the dragons were moving upward, following the wide, snow-dusted roads that spiraled up the mountain peak. The three of them traveled in silence, giving Jaax time to think and take in his surroundings. He hadn’t been in the lower part of the city in ages. Usually, he was landing and taking off from one of the many platforms nearer the castle. Now, as he surveyed this new environment, he noted that Nimbronia was very much like Cahrdyarein, except much colder and instead of buildings composed of stone and wood, most of the structures here were carved from solid ice. Beautiful and pristine and cold. Like the gates of the city, the walls of the dwellings were thick, distorting everything within them.
The people of Nimbronia, elves, both Nesnan and Resai, dwarves and a few of the other races of Ethoes, scurried about dressed in winter furs and scarves. Every now and then, the trio would pass another dragon, some Korli, some Tanaan. Jaax, Sapheramin and Tollorias would extend a greeting, but no one stopped to take part in any lengthy conversations. Wagons and people on horseback moved to the side to let the dragons pass, and music and laughter poured from the frosty doorways of pubs and restaurants. Workers on stilts moved down the sides of the road lighting lanterns, the lamp glass a pale blue to match the brighter stars now pushing their brilliance through the thin veil of looming twilight. Blurred spots of orange and red fire flickered behind the frozen walls of the many structures piled high and close together. Jaax smiled at the irony of it all. Buildings and homes made of ice, but a roaring fire capable of warming the entire interior couldn’t even melt a thin layer from the enchanted walls. Yes, the magic in Nimbronia was stronger than any other in Ethoes. And Jaax was hoping the wielders of that magic would lend a hand when they finally struck out against Ghorium.