Tab jumped out of the vessel before it had even landed. Her feet sunk into the soft surface. When she sprinted across the sand she swung her arms, trying to haul out her half-buried feet with each step. Warm sand slid over the tops of her boots and slipped in between her toes.
Tears poured down her cheeks. She grunted, trying to breathe, but her chest felt full and heavy.
As she drew nearer she could see two shapes. The larger was Melprin, but tucked in underneath the dragon's wing Tab could see the hatchling. It trilled a welcome in her mind, but she could feel that it was weak. The trip to the world below had taken a lot of energy. It rested its head on its mother's shoulder so affectionately that Tab almost choked on her tears.
There was a spear through Melprin's neck, and several arrows buried in her rump. Tab knelt down next to her friend, trying to blink away her tears so that she could see.
She looked over her shoulder to see Verris approaching cautiously. Back in the vessel the others waited and watched. Verris drew his sword.
‘Put that down!’ Tab shouted. ‘How could you?’
‘Dragons are hard to kill, Tab,’ he said gently. ‘And if she isn't dead…’ He paused. ‘Maybe it would be better for her if she were.’
‘Get away!’ Tab screamed. ‘I won't let you!’ She fell to her knees and collapsed into sobs.
Melprin's scales were warm under Tab's fingers. She pressed her cheek against the dragon's side. She should have come down here sooner. All this time her friend, who had saved her life three times now, had been lying in the sand, alone and slowly dying. Tab had done nothing to help. She'd been having a picnic and gorging herself with thickleberry tarts. It was all her fault. She had been selfish.
›››Not
Tab sat up. ‘Did you say something?’ She put her hand on her friend's side and felt it rise a little.
›››Not alone. Hatchling… most beautiful
Tab laughed. ‘You're alive!’ She called over her shoulder. ‘She's alive!’
›››Name her
‘Her?’ Tab called over her shoulder again. ‘The hatchling! It's a her! A she. I mean, it's a girl!’
›››You really want me to name her?››Goodness! I don't know. It needs to be something strong. Let me think
›››Don't think
›››Aventurine
›››Aventurine
Melprin rolled ever so slightly.
‘I can take those arrows out,’ Verris said. ‘But it will hurt. At least it would hurt a human. Can you tell her that?’
Tab translated Verris's offer.
Melprin inclined her head.
Verris put his sword back in its scabbard and drew out his dagger. He reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a flask, pouring the alcoholic liquid onto the blade. ‘She'd better not torch me,’ Verris added.
Tab crawled around to the front of Melprin and placed her sand-encrusted snout on her lap. ‘There now. If anything happens it will happen to me.’
She looked back over the sand to where her friends stood next to the scout's vessel. Fontagu was gesturing wildly, hopping up and down. Eventually Amelia punched him in the arm. Tab faintly heard her shout, ‘Fontagu! Shut up!’
Verris crouched down over Melprin's wounds. He started to press and dig, gingerly at first but then with more vigour. Melprin's breath was hot on Tab's arm, making her sweat. The dragon made the sound like glass in a barrel again, which Tab remembered meant that she was hurting.
‘Let me tell you about when Aventurine hatched,’ she began. Then she told Melprin about how the roofie had caught the egg and taken it to the council chamber. She laughed out loud when she thought the part about Tash Morley scrambling away as the egg rolled toward him.
Tab felt a rumbling in Melprin's throat. She hoped she was laughing too. Verris had extracted one of the arrows. He was examining the tip. Blood dripped from his hands and down Melprin's side.
‘Now I know how the arrowheads are shaped the next one will be easier. It should not hurt as much.’
›››Are you ready?
›››Do it
Tab nodded to Verris. He doused his dagger again and slid it under Melprin's scales.
Tab told Melprin about being thrown into the dungeon – about how little Aventurine had punched through the wall. She talked about the Loraskian attack, the screeching, and how they looked like giant moths.
Verris placed another of the arrows on the ground.
Next she explained about how Aventurine had scampered through the Barrenlands and escaped over the Drop-off.
A third and a fourth bloody arrow now lay on the sand.
›››You're doing very well››He's nearly finished
Tab felt the rumble again and this time a plume of smoke emerged from one of Melprin's nostrils.
‘Last one,’ Verris said, holding up the nasty looking arrow. His face was glistening with sweat. He shuffled around so that he could see the spear through Melprin's neck. First he inspected the spearhead, then he pressed at the wound. He wiped his face with his sleeve, panting. ‘We will have to break the spearhead off, and then slide the shaft back through the wound. I can't do it by myself, but Vrod should be able to split it. It will really, really hurt. Can you explain that?’
›››Do it
Verris called for Vrod. When the troll approached, Verris explained what he wanted.
Vrod knelt down. He took the spear in his two massive hands, poking out his tongue as he focused. His knuckles went white.
Snap! The spear broke in two. Melprin's head jerked and Tab gasped. She looked down to see blisters bubbling on her arms.
›››You burned me!
›››Trying to hold it inside. I couldn't
‘Tab! You're burnt!’ Verris said, moving around the dragon's body.
‘We can fix it later,’ she said. ‘We must help Melprin first.’ She winced against the pain, feeling a cold sweat spring up on her forehead, and a sick churning in her stomach. ‘Besides, it doesn't hurt that much,’ she lied.
Verris and Vrod discussed how to draw the shaft of the spear from Melprin's neck, their faces grim with concentration. Verris looked at Tab, frowning. ‘We're set to go.’
›››Are you ready?
Melprin still had her eyes closed. Verris and Vrod grasped the shaft. Tab felt herself tense. If Melprin burned her again she wouldn't be able to stay conscious. It might even kill her, but she didn't want to abandon her friend either.
‘Wait!’ Tab said. ‘Let me try something.’
She wanted to show Melprin the moment when Aventurine hatched. She closed her eyes and created the pictures in her mind, the way Tattoo had shown her – paying attention to every detail.
›››Can you see it?
›››I can see
‘Now!’ said Tab through gritted teeth.
Verris and Vrod pulled, and the shaft slid through Melprin's flesh and out the other side.
When Tab opened her eyes again, a tear slid down Melprin's face and then disappeared in a waft of steam.
Vrod and Verris fell back in the sand, panting.
‘We did it!’ Tab said.
Verris shook his head. ‘We're only halfway there. Melprin has a lot of healing to do.’ He crouched down to inspect Tab's burns. ‘We need to get something cold on that, and quickly.’ He shook his head. ‘It's not good, Tab.’
‘Look,’ growled Vrod, pointing to the horizon.
Tab saw shimmering shapes heading towards them. ‘What is it?’
‘Peoples,’ the troll answered. He sniffed. ‘Lots of peoples looking for a fight.’
Tab looked at the dragon with her sharp talons and leathery wings. One of the skills her gift was giving her was the opportunity to see things through other people's eyes. Even without melding she could guess what an equen might see. ‘Scavenjaw,’ she muttered. Melprin would look a lot like a scavenjaw from a distance. Maybe the scavenjaws were dragons?
‘What did you say?’ Verris asked.
Tab turned and looked towards the scout vessel at her friends – child-sized, and the equens still on board. ‘It's the herdsfolk,’ she answered. ‘They think we're the sky-traders. They think we've come to kidnap more equens.’
Alyssa Brugman
The Equen Queen
Alyssa Brugman
The Equen Queen
Mysterious Herdsfolk Magic
The silhouettes shimmered as the herdsfolk came forward over the sand. Tab guessed there were twenty, maybe more. They wore the long capes that she had seen in her vision and when the capes fluttered in the breeze she could make out the tattoos on their legs. They looked angry.
‘How many can you take?’ Verris asked Vrod, as he flexed his fingers, readjusting his grip on his sword.
The troll shrugged. ‘Ten?’
‘We can solve this without fighting,’ Tab said.
Verris ignored her. ‘That leaves ten for me. Maybe more. And Fontagu is next to useless.’ He helped Tab to her feet and herded her towards the craft. ‘Philmon can fly that scout vessel. Take your friends back to the cloud layer. You can come back down again when it's over.’
Tab shook her head. ‘I'm not leaving.’ The first stone from a sling whistled past her ear. She put her hands over her head, trying to protect herself. The burns on her arms stung so much she found it hard to think about anything else.
‘Agh!’ Verris hopped up and down on one leg. He'd been hit in the shin. He let go of Tab and her knees buckled.
Another stone whistled by and caught Vrod on the chin. The troll growled, and then looked around for something to throw. He picked up one of the bloody arrows, testing its weight in his hands.
‘No!’ Tab shouted. Her legs wouldn't hold her up, and she fell awkwardly, holding her burned arms out of the way.
The air was thick with whistling stones. Verris and Vrod turned their backs trying to protect their faces.
Philmon and Fontagu retreated into the scouting vessel, out of harm's way.
Amelia was standing halfway between Tab and the craft muttering something, and gesturing with her hands. In front of her the stones slowed and then fell to the ground, but there were more than her powers of levitation could handle. A stone hit her in the shoulder and she lost her concentration. She crouched and crossed her forearms in front of her face as she was peppered with tiny rocks.
Torby closed his eyes and held his arms outstretched. Suddenly a whirlwind of sand rose out of the dune between the herdsfolk and the Quentarans. It spun faster and faster, reaching twice the height of Tab and then four times.
The herdsfolk lowered their slings and backed away slowly.
The whirlwind kept growing and soon Tab could feel her hair and clothing fluttering towards the sandstorm. It roared louder and louder.
Tab turned to her small friend. His feet were buried in the sand, and as she watched his ankles disappeared into the dune, and then his calves. He was sinking!
‘Torby!’ she shouted, but her voice was carried away by the wind.
He had his eyes closed, and a frown of concentration furrowed his brow. He was buried up to his knees.
Tab crawled towards the scout vessel. The sand scratched against her burns and she winced with pain.
‘Philmon!’ she screamed.
Her friend saw what was happening and ran towards the smaller boy – now up to his thighs in sand.
Philmon grabbed him by the arms and shook him, but he too started sinking. Philmon shouted into Torby's face as the sand reached his waist.
Torby's eyes opened and he looked down. A look of fright crossed his face. Suddenly the whirling sand stopped in midair and fell to the ground all at once with a giant whomp.
The herdsfolk stared at the Quentarans across the barren expanse, slack-jawed with astonishment.
Amelia joined Philmon, trying to pull Torby out of the sand. Verris and Vrod ran over and began to dig. Between them they were able to drag the small boy out of the sand.
‘Nice trick, boy,’ Verris noted, ruffling Torby's hair.
Tab clambered to her feet and stumbled the rest of the way to the scout vessel. Once there she unloaded the equens, who were trembling and sweating with fear.
›››Calm
She took their lead ropes and led the equens across the sand towards the herdsfolk. It took all her concentration to stay upright. She held her forearms up and blew on them gently.
‘What are you doing?’ Verris shouted after her.
She ignored him.
The herdsfolk raised their slings as she approached, but they didn't fire. A boy came forward, shading his eyes with his hands. He turned to his people and said something that Tab couldn't hear, and then he jogged towards her over the sand.
As he got closer Tab recognised him as the boy from her dream – the one she had seen jumping from the Drop-off with Tattoo. His face was twisted. He was horrified. When he reached them he scrabbled at the halter the first equen was wearing, as though he couldn't bear it being on the equen's skin.
‘My name is Tab,’ she said. ‘We rescued these equens from the sky-traders. We brought them back to you.’
He threw the first halter on the ground in disgust. ‘Rescued? Then why have you bound them? I have been to your streets and seen your equen slaves with…’ His eyes blazed. ‘With metal in their mouths and on their feet…’ His eyes filled with tears of rage, and his fingers fumbled with the second halter. ‘… And bound all over with straps made from the hides of their brothers and sisters!’
‘They're not equens, they're horses,’ Tab explained.
He glared at her. ‘You consort with scavenjaws, and you are wicked! Leave here or we will slay you all.’
‘With those?’ she said, pointing to the sling tucked into his belt.
The boy lifted his chin defiantly.
‘She's not a scavenjaw, she's a dragon,’ Tab continued. ‘She's my friend the way Tattoo is your friend.’
‘Meat eater!’ the boy spat, and he stalked away. The two equens followed him.
‘We need your help. My friends are sick. Tattoo said that she can heal them.’
‘We will not help you,’ the boy said, furiously stomping across the sand.
‘I don't see that you have much choice,’ Tab called after him. ‘Even if you did manage to slay us with your pebbles, others will come looking for us. Then more will come looking for them, and more, and more, until there is a whole army here. You have seen how many people are in our city. Wouldn't it be easier just to help two of us? And then we will be gone.’
The boy stopped and turned. ‘I will consult with the herdsfolk.’
The herdsfolk retreated and sat down in a circle to confer.
Tab staggered back to the scout vessel. She sat down heavily on one of the benches. Verris tore his shirt into strips and began to wrap it around her burns while she recounted what had happened.
‘Nicely played,’ Verris said, nodding.
Fontagu sat down next to Tab. ‘Did you manage to collect any of that dragon's blood? Or perhaps the tears? Big market for dragon's tears.’
‘She's still bleeding,’ Tab said. ‘Go and help yourself.’
Fontagu looked longingly at the dragon lying in the sand. ‘Perhaps if you could make a formal application to her on my behalf.’ He glanced at the arm that Verris had not yet bandaged. ‘Whenever you're ready.’
Tab shook her head. ‘Sometimes you're just…’ She searched for a word.
‘What?’ he asked.
‘It doesn't matter.’ She sighed.
‘Look,’ said Philmon, as another herdsfolk man approached. He was decorated all over with the curlicue tattoos. He was smiling, but Verris stepped away from Tab and kept his hand on his scabbard.
‘You have made my young friend very angry,’ the man said when he had reached them. ‘He spits and dances as if he is filled with hot coals!’
‘Sorry,’ Tab said.
He stepped forward and took hold of Tab's exposed forearm, examining the burns. ‘This is what you wish to heal?’
Tab shook her head. She pointed at Melprin. ‘Our dragon… our scavenjaw has wounds.’
The herdsfolk healer looked at her through sparkling eyes. ‘It's not our custom to heal scavenjaws.’
Tab held his gaze. ‘We'll not leave until she's ready to fly,’ she replied quietly.
He nodded. ‘I'll prepare a poultice. It should do for both. Will you wait here?’
Tab put her hand on Torby's head. ‘My friend is unwell in here. I thought maybe if he saw Tattoo… ‘ She trailed off.
‘The storm maker.’ The healer grinned. ‘He is not supposed to sink, yes?’
‘He's not master of his gifts,’ Amelia murmured.
The healer tilted his head to the side. ‘I'm not sure if you understand how this works.’
‘How does it work?’ asked Fontagu.
The herdsfolk man regarded Fontagu for a moment. ‘I will prepare a poultice and return, and then we will talk more. We will be back when the first moon rises.’ He pointed to the horizon. ‘Your strongest should head in that direction.’ He pointed over the dune. ‘And collect wood for a cooking fire. Do you know what makes a good cooking fire?’
Verris nodded. ‘Hot coals?’
The healer nodded. ‘Like in my young friend's chest.’ He laughed and then he left. Two of the herdsfolk stayed on the dune, at a distance, to keep watch.
Philmon, Verris and Vrod tramped away across the dune to collect wood. Fontagu trailed behind them grumbling. ‘I have a bad hip. My body is my livelihood, you know.’
Amelia and Torby joined Tab sitting by Melprin and Aventurine. Torby had dark circles under his eyes. Amelia made him lie down with his head resting on her lap. She stroked his forehead until he went to sleep.
‘It's not really going to plan, is it?’ Amelia asked.
‘There was a plan?’ Tab joked.
‘You know what I mean,’ Amelia said.
Tab lay back and rested her head on the dragon's shoulder. She was tired and her arms throbbed in time with her heartbeat. Verris had not bandaged her other arm since the healer was going to poultice it anyway. She blew on the blisters gently.
‘Does it hurt?’ Amelia whispered.
‘I'm all right,’ Tab answered, closing her eyes.
It seemed to her that since Quentaris had left Amlas all they had met were people who didn't like them! They did enough fighting when they were on the ground without more fighting in the sky. For that matter, Quentarans did enough fighting amongst themselves. It was exhausting.
The five lay silent and still for some time. The air became cooler. It was reassuring to feel the warmth and the rise and fall of Melprin's chest against Tab's back.
After a while of struggling with her emotions, she sent a thought to Melprin.
›››There are other dragons here
›››I can hear them
›››Will you stay?
Before Melprin had a chance to answer, the others returned and set about making a fire halfway between the scout vessel and the place where Melprin lay, and not long after they had a blaze going the herdsfolk healer returned. He brought a family with him and they each carried a shoulder sack. The herdsfolk children eyed Tab and her friends shyly.
Presently, five equens crested the hill, led by Tattoo. They shied and snorted when they first saw Melprin and Aventurine lying side by side in the sand, but soon settled when they saw the healer and his family were not alarmed.
The healer sat cross-legged next to the fire, mixing the poultice in a bowl. Once it was blended he held out the spatula and Tab offered her arms. The mixture was cool and soothing on her burns. He rebound her arms with fresh strips of cloth offered by Verris, then he helped her to her feet.
They approached Melprin together and the healer showed her how to smooth the mixture over the scales and into the wound. He wouldn't touch the dragon himself, but his nerve was steady as he advised Tab.
Tab left Melprin to rest and they returned to the fire where the rest of the family had been preparing the food. They were rolling some sort of meal with water into rounds, which they cooked on hot stones. Then they stuffed the rounds with a gooey, mashed vegetable mix.
Philmon took a bite and his eyes widened. He smiled politely at the herdsfolk lady. ‘It tastes very… wholesome,’ he said.
Vrod turned over his mouthful as if he was afraid to swallow. Verris elbowed him in the ribs when he thought the herdsfolk weren't watching and reluctantly the troll finished, rubbing the floury meal from his hands.
Tab bit into hers and immediately regretted it. It was bland and fibrous, and seemed to stick to the roof of her mouth, but it was too late. She had to finish. She tried to imagine it was a sweet cake, like the ones the sky-traders had given them.
After everyone had eaten their rolls, the family packed away the leftover food into their sacks. The children sat up straight and sang a song for the visitors, slapping their hands together in an elaborate pattern. The visitors clapped in time.
When they had finished Verris looked at Vrod and the two of them broke into a jolly pirate song, except without the swearing. Tab and her friends cheered.
Fontagu stood and sang a melancholy ballad in a powerful and tuneful voice. Even Amelia was gripped by the sound of it.
‘So you're good for something!’ Verris joked when he reached the end.
Fontagu bowed deeply, and Tab was pleased to see him accepting the dig with grace.
After the songs had finished, Torby and the small herdsfolk children curled up near the fire and slept. The others sat around the crackling blaze in silence. A short distance away the equens stood swishing their tails contentedly and dozing.
‘How does it work?’ Fontagu asked finally. Flicking a glance towards Tattoo.
The healer broke up some more sticks and placed them into the fire. ‘It's complex between us. The equens carry in their minds the places that are best to find food, water and to stay protected from the weather at different times of the year. We carry with us the methods to keep them well. When we settle we use their manures to feed our crops. We eat the grains and feed the equens the stalks. By watching them selecting herbs on the ranges we know which ones to collect to protect from illnesses in the chest and in the blood. Their smell tells us when predators will arrive or when the weather will turn sour.’
Fontagu blinked. ‘But what about the magic healing?’
The healer shrugged. ‘The equens find comfort in being in a herd. When they are not with their kin they become distressed and ill. We two-leggeds are the same, aren't we?’
Fontagu stared into the flames. Tab could tell he was thinking that the herdsfolk healer wanted to keep their magic a secret.
Tab reached out for Tattoo's mind. The little equen opened her eyes for a moment and then closed them again. For Tattoo, ‘herd’, ‘comfort’ and ‘heal’ all meant the same thing.
‘Haven't you ever had a friend who makes you feel better just by being with them?’ Tab asked Fontagu. She looked at Torby, with his head resting on Amelia's knee, smiling in his sleep. Perhaps they hadn't found the answer for Torby that she was hoping for down here, but then again maybe they had?
Fontagu ignored Tab. ‘But really, how old are you?’
The healer smiled. ‘Old.’
‘Sixty? One hundred-and-sixty? Four hundred?’ Fontagu guessed.
The healer winked at another of the herdsfolk, the lady Tab guessed to be his wife.
‘I'm just curious because…’ Fontagu began again.
‘Fontagu!’ Tab pleaded.
‘But we will be leaving! This is my last chance to learn their secret!’
‘Let it go!’ Philmon said.
The healer slapped his thigh. ‘All right. Mr Fontagu Wizroth the Third of the great city in the sky, tamer of scavenjaws, possessor of the throat of dreams, I will tell you the answer to the riddle of eternal life. This is mysterious herdsfolk, equen magic. Very secret. Are you listening?’
Fontagu leaned forward, nodding eagerly.
The healer held up his three fingers, and ticked them off in turn. ‘Work hard in the service of your community. Move your arms and legs every day. Let go of anger in your heart.’
Fontagu's mouth dropped open. ‘But I have five fingers!’ he blurted.
The healer laughed. ‘Then you can add; eat lots of fibre, even if you don't like it. No meat! And… What else would you say, little one?’ he asked Tab.
Tab looked across at Lord Verris. ‘Live well today,’ she said.
‘Be good to your mother,’ Vrod suggested.
‘Laugh often,’ Philmon said.
‘Try to get to bed early,’ Amelia added, stretching and yawning.
‘There you have it,’ the healer said. ‘Quentaran magic and mysterious herdsfolk magic is just the same.’
Fontagu growled. He stood up and walked away from the fire while those who encircled it laughed at his retreating back. Even the equens wrinkled their noses as if they were laughing.
Tab sighed contentedly. They would be leaving soon, back to their sky-city to discover new worlds, face more hostile opponents, and hopefully make some new allies too, but right now she was amongst friends and she did feel better.
Lord Verris winked at Tab, and she grinned back.
‘Live well today,’ she said again.