Chapter 15

Angela came to Raleigh’s side. “What’s the hold-up?”

Dax broke away. “Wait a minute.”

Raleigh hurried after him. “Dax! Come on. We have to get out of here as soon as we can.”

He didn’t answer. He scuttled into the stable and raced down the long line of stalls. Horses stood in most of them, along with a few milk cows tied in their stanchions. Dax marched down the row to the farthest end. He came to a halt in front of the last stall.

Unlike the others, the doors of this stall stood closed so the party couldn’t see in. Dax paused outside and stared at the doors. Raleigh touched his sleeve. “What’s the matter, Dax? What is it?”

“Someone is calling me,” he whispered. “There’s someone in there.”

He stepped forward and took hold of the top half of the door. He swung it open, and the three friends looked in on another horse. At first sight, it looked like any ordinary horse. Unlike the other horses in the stable, though, it hung its head in misery. Where the other horses looked all around them with their bright soft eyes, this horse’s eyelids drooped to cover its glassed-over eyes.

Open sores covered its body, and bloody gashes marked its legs and neck. Its poor excuse for a tail hung in ragged pieces behind it, and the creature wobbled on unsteady legs. Raleigh sighed. “We better get out of here.”

“He’s talking to me,” Dax whispered. “He’s asking me to help him.”

Raleigh looked at him. “He is?”

Dax nodded. “He’s a hybrid. They’ve been experimenting on him. He thinks he’s going to die here. They come for him every evening. They’ll be back soon to get him, and he doesn’t think he can survive another treatment.”

“If they’re coming back soon,” Angela murmured, “we should get out of here.”

Dax took hold of the lower door. “I’m not leaving until I help him.”

“What are you going to do?” Raleigh asked.

Dax stood in front of the horse and stared at him. The animal—or whatever it was—didn’t move or look up. It just stood there in motionless misery.

A curious energy took hold of Dax. He seemed to expand before Raleigh’s eyes. He drew himself up and laid his hand on the horse’s head. In a blinding flash of light, the horse transformed into a sleek, beautiful, prancing creature like the other horses in the stable.

The horse tossed Dax’s hand off his head and snorted and whinnied. It trotted around its stall and kicked up its heels. It came to rest by the far wall and looked back over its shoulder at Dax.

Dax stood stock still. The strange energy radiated out of him in a halo. The bright sphere Raleigh saw in the forest pulsed all around him. It glowed out of his skin and hair and eyes. His skin flashed rapid changes in color, from the brilliant green of the dragon to purple, to pearly white and peach and yellow. Rainbow sparkles danced from his fingertips, and every hair on his head crackled fire.

Dax turned his startled eyes on Raleigh. “Raleigh! It’s happening!”

Raleigh shook herself out of her trance. She grabbed his hand and pulled. “Come on. The Guild will see you like this. We have to get to the zeppelin. It’s the only way to get out of here.”

The party raced out of the stall, but Dax left the door open. The friends hurried away down the long row of stalls. Before they entered Hallbreck, they heard prancing hoofbeats. The horse trotted out behind them, and with one more proud toss of its head, headed outside toward the mountains.

Dax and Raleigh didn’t have time to watch him go or celebrate his escape. Dax still shone like a star for all the world to see. Raleigh fought to keep hold of his hand, but his skin kept changing in her grasp. One minute, she touched a human man. The next instant, he seemed to vanish so she couldn’t feel him at all.

Angela took the lead and ran up the long staircases through the city. Every instant counted before the Guild realized their quarry was right here, under their very roof. Nobody stopped to talk. They climbed in silent anxiety to the city’s highest levels.

Angela threw open a door, and the broad roof spread out before them. The zeppelin hovered a few feet above the ground. Its white sides blended with the cold, grey sky around it. Before their eyes, the zeppelin touched down and the crew jumped out of the car to secure the vehicle to the ground.

Angel held the door open. “Let’s go.”

Dax and Raleigh made for the door, but at that moment, dozens of footsteps resounded up the stairs. Commotion and voices came from all directions. In seconds, dozens of Guildsmen rushed up the stairs and around the corners. They pointed at the friends and shouted orders to each other.

Angela slapped her hand on Raleigh’s shoulder and shoved her through the door. “Get that kid out of here! Get to the ship! I’ll cover you.”

Raleigh rushed forward. “We can’t leave you behind.”

“Don’t worry about me,” Angela shot back. “Go! Get him out of here. That’s all that matters now.”

Raleigh didn’t wait to be told twice. She dragged Dax out into the rain and bolted for the zeppelin’s passenger car. The crews opened the door to welcome them. Dax still sparkled all over, but whatever was happening to him, he made no attempt to use his power. He still couldn’t control it.

His power made him heal that horse, but he couldn’t call it up at will to defend himself in a situation like this. He let Raleigh lead him like a frightened child toward their one avenue of escape.

Angela strode onto the roof. She tugged off her gloves one finger at a time and stuffed them into her sleeve. She breezed onto the roof in no particular hurry, but she kept casting glances over her shoulder at the Guildsmen closing in on all sides.

The Guildsman flooded through the door onto the roof. Every one of them aimed a cube from each hand. Dozens of shots whined around Raleigh’s head. She stooped low and charged ahead. The zeppelin crew waved her and Dax into the passenger car, but the Guildsmen’s fire cut them off.

Raleigh ducked for cover, but no cover could be found on that roof. She put her other hand down to draw her own weapon when Angela whipped around. Both her hands flew out in a wide arc, and she flicked all her fingers at the onrushing Guildsmen.

Hundreds of tiny black specks shot out of her fingernails. They struck the Guildsmen in the eyes and noses and mouths. Raleigh couldn’t see the things, they were so small, but they did the job. The Guildsmen clutched their throats and clawed their eyes. They screamed and writhed to the ground.

Angela took advantage of the pause to spin around. She bellowed at Raleigh. “Go! Get inside!”

Raleigh pushed Dax into the car, and the crewman slammed the door. The others ran around the roof and cut loose the ropes. The zeppelin strained to take off.

Raleigh pounded on the glass. “Hey, wait! We can’t leave Angela behind.”

Angela flicked her fingers again and again. Thousands of the microscopic weapons whizzed all over the roof. More Guildsmen poured out of doors and crevices from all sides. Angela danced one way and then the other.

Her arms whirled around her in a ceaseless dance, but too many Guildsmen closed in all around. They cut off her route to the passenger car. No matter how fast she fought back, she couldn’t defeat them all.

She scanned the roof and saw the crew coiling up the ropes. She backed toward the passenger car, but Raleigh feared Angela would never make it in time. She would be left behind and cut down by the Guild.

At the last second, Angela dropped her hands to her sides. She shook out her hands before she stuck them into her jacket. She pulled out two weapons, one in each hand. They looked like guns, but when she aimed them at the Guildsmen and fired, a deafening boom sounded across the roof. An invisible shock wave struck them and flung them against the far wall.

More Guildsmen raced in to fill the gap. Angela fired one way and then the other and made a last dash for the passenger car. The crewman flung the door open, she hurtled inside, and the zeppelin floated off the ground.

The Guildsmen floundered to their feet, but they couldn’t catch the zeppelin. They bounced around underneath it and signaled to the crew to descend, but it was too late. The zeppelin rose into the grey sky, and Hallbreck shrank to a little toy city tucked into the mountains.

Raleigh sighed with relief. “Thank goodness for that. I thought we’d lost you.”

Angela grinned and pulled her gloves from her sleeve. She flexed her fingers into their places. “I told you not to worry about me. I’ve got more tricks than a street magician.”

A cough drew Raleigh’s attention behind her. She turned around just in time to see Dax’s shining orb die to nothing. His skin turned sallow and pale. His hair hung sweaty and stringy around his face, and his shoulders slumped.

Raleigh steered him into the nearest seat, and he collapsed sideways to lean against the wall. She let out a shaky breath. “It’s all over now.”

“Until the next time,” Angela added.

Raleigh took the seat next to Dax. “There’s nothing we can do but ride it out. One of these days, he’ll make the switch, and he won’t come back.”

Angela sat down, too. “What will you do then?”

Raleigh shot her a wry grin. “I guess that depends on what he turns into when it happens.”

Angela glanced at Dax, and she didn’t smile. “This could get dangerous, you know. He’s completely out of control.”

“He hasn’t hurt us or anybody else he hasn’t wanted to hurt,” Raleigh pointed out. “He might not be in complete control, but I wouldn’t call him dangerous. He can’t control when and how he changes, but when he does, he doesn’t just blast off in all directions hitting innocent bystanders. You should have seen him in the forest. He blew all the wolves away, and his…whatever-you-call-‘ems, they went right through me and didn’t touch me. He can control them to a limited degree, and he will get better as he develops.”

Angela shook her head and looked away. “I sure hope you know what you’re doing.”

“No, I don’t, actually,” Raleigh admitted. “I only know one thing. Dax loves me and I love him. He would never deliberately hurt me. After what I’ve seen, he wouldn’t hurt anybody else, either, unless they attacked him with the intent to kill him. I think we’re safe with him.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Raleigh glanced at her sidelong. “You don’t have to do this, you know. If you’re that worried about Dax, you can always go back to Perdue. I’ll handle this.”

“Are you crazy?” Angela shot back. “And leave you to rescue Bishop alone? Forget it. Besides, Bishop went to a lot of trouble to protect Dax to get him to this stage. I won’t let that effort go to waste. Bishop must have thought Dax was pretty special to do that, so I guess I can follow his lead and do the same thing.”

Raleigh gazed at her young friend. He groaned in his sleep against the zeppelin wall. No one would ever guess the power harbored in that ordinary body. Good thing the McDermotts never found out what little bundle Bishop really gave them. They would turn in their graves.

Raleigh suppressed a smile. Angela was right. This situation was nothing to laugh about, but she trusted Dax, especially after seeing him in action. He hadn’t learned how to use his power, but he knew enough to protect the good and the innocent. He awoke his latent abilities helping that horse. What would he become the next time he tried to use them?

Angela broke in on her thoughts. “You don’t really plan to go to Solaris, do you?”

Raleigh faced her. “It’s the only way to get Bishop back, so yeah, I guess I do.”

“You don’t know what you’re saying,” Angela told her.

“Maybe you can tell me. What do you know about the Guild of Epistemology? They can’t be more dangerous than the Guild of Martial Arts.”

“You’d be surprised. They have power the Martial Artists don’t have. They control the forces of thought. They spend their lives honing their mental abilities, and they can use them better than any weapon. You’ll need to be on your toes up there.”

“Is that why you don’t want to go there? Are you worried they could defeat you in battle?”

“I won’t go there because it’s the bastion of another Guild. I belong to the Guild of Martial Arts, and the Guilds don’t tread on each other’s territory. If I went there, my life would be forfeit. Any Guildsman, from any Guild, anywhere in all of Hinterland, could kill me with impunity for trespassing.”

“You went to Hallbreck,” Raleigh pointed out. “That’s the bastion of another Guild.”

“Some of the Guilds aren’t as territorial as others,” Angela replied. “Some aren’t territorial at all and don’t care who enters their territory. The Guild of Husbandry doesn’t mind who comes to Hallbreck, as long as they’re human. Besides, the Guild of Epistemology would figure out quick enough I was there to steal Bishop from them, and that is an even more unforgivable crime. No, I can’t set foot in Solaris, and Bishop understands that better than anybody.”

“If that’s the case,” Raleigh countered, “why are the Epistemologists helping the Guild of Martial Arts by keeping him captive in their city?”

“I can only imagine they have chosen to do the Guild this small favor, or maybe the cabal arranged it to keep Bishop out of action until they carry out their plan. I don’t know. I can only guess.”

“What about me?” Raleigh asked. “Will my life be forfeit if I free Bishop? Will every Guildsman in Hinterland be after my blood if I succeed?”

“You’re not a member of any Guild. You’ll be fine. Anybody can go to Solaris anytime they want to, provided they can find a way to get there. They’ll fight you. They’ll use their power to stop you, but if you succeed, your life won’t be forfeit, no.”

“Are the Guildsmen of Epistemology regular people, too? I know the Guild of Husbandry values humanity above all else, and they don’t take nonhumans as Guildsmen. What about the other Guilds? Do they take other species?”

“All the time,” Angela replied. “Most of the Epistemologists are other species, as humans aren’t exactly exceptional when it comes to mental abilities. A lot of other species leave us in the dust.”

Raleigh chuckled. “Touche.”

“I suggest,” Angela went on, “that we go straight to Kaldkirk without stopping in Pernrith. This zeppelin will stop there, but we can transfer directly to the next flight to Kaldkirk without stopping. The sooner we find out what’s going on with Bishop, the better—unless you have some reason to stop in Pernrith?”

“I’m willing to play it your way,” Raleigh replied. “The less time Dax spends walking around in public, the better.”