Wednesday Briefs: Broken Path, Starless Tail Chapter Eighteen

 

“Are you okay?” Valrinda asked. He craned his neck and tried to peer at Beckett, who only looked up for a brief second before the icy wind of their rapid flight made it too unbearable.

“F-f-fine,” was all Beckett could get out without risking biting off his own tongue. He patted Valrinda’s neck, and his hand burned from just the light contact. There wasn’t a choice. They had to stay higher in the atmosphere, and he was going to tough it out. His core was warm enough, pressed against Valrinda, and that was most important. Beckett tucked his head tighter against Valrinda’s smooth scales, just trying to breathe through it.

He tried to hide it, but a few minutes later, Beckett was shaking violently and struggling to hold on.

“I’m going down,” Valrinda announced.

“N-n-nooo.” It hurt to talk, and Beckett didn’t even try to lift up and look around.

“Yes, you can’t stay up here. It’s too dangerous. What good does it do us if you get sick or hurt from being this cold? It’s not safe, Beckett.”

“N-not s-safe d-down.” That was all he could get out.

“We don’t know that. We can’t be sure what your dream meant, and I might have gotten us past whoever, or whatever, was camped on the road. I promised I’d keep you safe, and keeping you up here is the opposite. So stop arguing with me because you’re on my back, which means I’m in charge of this ride.”

“F-f-fine.” He just really wanted to get warm. Or take a nap. Beckett could go for a nap, even if they’d only been up and flying for a short time.

“No sleeping!” Valrinda snapped.

“’M not.” Beckett forced himself to stay away, to keep that petulant promise. Somewhere in the recesses of his mind, he recognized the danger of falling asleep when he was that cold, even if he couldn’t consciously think it.

Some feeling was creeping back into his limbs by the time they landed, but Beckett wasn’t any use to Valrinda as he slid off onto the black stones that made up the road. His brain was fuzzy, and he huddled in a heap of exhaustion. “I don’t see anyone around,” Valrinda said. “Just rest for now.” He nuzzled Beckett, tucking him close to his side with one wing. “Just rest.”

 

The tinkle of metal startled Beckett, and Valrinda’s roar deafened him. He stumbled to his feet, staring at the beings surrounding them. Valrinda reared up behind him, claws at the ready, but the beings weren’t threatening them that he could see, just surrounding them, so Beckett put a hand on his chest. It was rumbling, and Beckett had to hope Valrinda wasn’t about to burn them all to a crisp for startling them.

Not really the reputation he was going for.

“Who are you?” Beckett demanded defensively. They were small, barely coming up to his elbow, but their bodies were hidden in crimson robes and hoods. Everyone knew if you were hiding your face like that you were probably up to no good.

One stepped forward and bowed. “Oh, great days are upon us now that we have found you, Seeker of the Star. We have pilgrimaged far to offer our services.”

Great. Wonderful. So these beings didn’t want to capture and enslave them, but that still didn’t answer his question. “Who are you?” Beckett asked again, a little less aggressively.

As one, they all lowered their hoods.

Valrinda groaned, “Great, Ore Wisps.”

They didn’t look very wispy. In fact, with their eyes spaced wide apart, and faces strangely pushed forward at the nose and mouth almost like a muzzle, with wide teeth they were all showing either in a threat or a smile, they looked a lot like a human mixed with a goat. Not that goats had purple, yellow, or orange hair, or walked around on two legs wearing cloaks and talking… but the resemblance was there.

“What’s an Ore Wisp?”

“It is what the others call our kind, since we mostly secret ourselves in the mountains where we can search out sparklies and other fancies—”

“They’re obsessed with anything shiny,” Valrinda said, “And they’re not above stealing what catches their eye either.”

“We do not steal,” one said indignantly. “We trade.”

“Does the other person always agree to the trade?”

The group was silent. Valrinda snorted. “That’s what I thought,” he muttered. “Better what your stuff, Beckett. You never know what they might take. In fact, you’ll probably not even realize it until you go to stand up and your pants fall around your ankles and a useless rock falls into the dirt in place of the belt they took.”

“We would never take something from the Seeker. We are here to help him.”

“Help him? How? I’m his guide,” Valrinda said defensively. “I’m helping him, so buzz off, wisps.”

“Wait, wait. Didn’t you say they’re good at finding shiny, sparkly things?” Beckett asked.

“Yeah, so?”

“We are,” several wisps exclaimed at the same time, drowning out Valrinda’s petulant mutter.

“So, obviously Parallax’s star will be shiny, right? They could help me find it!”

“We could, we will!” They were so excited, their little voices piped up in a pitch that was almost painful to hear.

“You’ll be lucky if they don’t steal it for themselves,” Valrinda declared in a fit of doom. He stamped his foot. “Nothing good ever comes from consorting with wisps!”

Beckett knew he was supposed to listen to his guide, but what about his vision? He’d seen them. And how did they know to be on the road and looking for him? They had to be something more at work here, some magic that probably was part of the path that Parallax set him on to find his star.

“Valrinda, I think they were meant to find us, and we’re meant to work together with them. I need their help, just like I still need yours.” He stroked Valrinda’s side. 

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Wednesday Briefs: Broken Path, Starless Tail

 

Maybe he shouldn’t be so amazed by flying, considering the modern world he came from, but flying on Valrinda’s back was really different from the two hour flight in a jet to his aunt’s house. One big difference? His seat was a living, breathing being who liked to crane his neck back and talk to him whenever he got the chance to snap his wings out and glide along on a thermal wind.

He answered a lot of questions Beckett had about the world they were gliding swiftly over. Watching the land rise and fall, he appreciated not having to trudge the distance each day but made Valrinda look for places to set down earlier in the evening so he could rest before it got dark. They always looked for a place with shade, shelter, and water if possible. The flask helped, but Beckett liked to bathe, and it turned out Valrinda would splash around in shallow water if the body of water was large enough.

One afternoon Valrinda paused, flapping his wings to hover high above the fading foothills of a mountain range. Not even Beckett’s coat had kept him warm as they flew over its high, white-capped peaks so they’d sped as fast as possible. The air had been cold and oxygen thin but the view had been spectacular so Beckett kept his eyes open despite feeling like the tears from the frigid wind would freeze his cheeks.

He was still chilly but looking forward to finding some warmth curled up with Valrinda by a fire, so he wasn’t sure why they stopped. “What is it?”

“There’s smoke on the horizon.”

Smoke meant fire, usually. “A fire, like a big one, or something like travelers’ fires?” He couldn’t see it, but there were clouds in the distance, and Beckett had no way to tell the difference between them and smoke. The landscape had also shifted from trees and jungle to a desert-like landscape with feathery plants, red sand, and large stone outcroppings casting wide shadows.

“I’m not sure. This would have to be a lot of fires to make that much smoke.”

Beckett curled against Valrinda’s neck again. He stroked it, sensing how troubled he was. “Are you okay? You seem really worried.”

“At the base of these mountains is the black road. Your dream….”

“Oh, yeah.” Beckett’s stomach churned. He didn’t have great feelings about what he’d seen. “Do we have to follow the road or stop by those fires?”

“We could try to avoid them by flying straight through and overnight, but we cannot deviate from the road. There are dangers here, creatures that avoid the road but not any who are unwary enough to land in the desert.”

“Let me guess… sandworms?” Beckett said dryly.

“Worms? No, they are tiny with teeth that couldn’t do more than welt even your bare skin. The biggest danger comes from the ivory biters. They are small creatures, but swarm in tunnels they dig with their dagger-like claws. Their body is nothing but a mouth and stomach and waste chute, and they burrow seeking food to go in one end and out the other. A swarm could consume me in seconds, even my bones, if I landed on one of their tunnels and they sensed the vibrations.

Beckett blanched, unable to get the image out of his mind from Valrinda’s graphic description, and shuddered with more than cold though he longed to be warm. “So we stay on the road. Why don’t we camp here tonight and make a plan?”

Unfortunately, they couldn’t have a fire because Valrinda smartly pointed out if he could see the smoke maybe a scout from whoever, or whatever, had made the other fire would see theirs. Beckett piled on an extra shirt to snuggle his arms under and cover his hands after he ate a cold dinner of stale bread and dried fruit followed by a long drink of sweet water. At least the flask and its spell hadn’t failed him. He poured and poured and poured until Valdrina had also drank his fill.

Valrinda curled like a snake, creating a nest for him and tucked a wing over top, becoming his living, breathing tent against the chill of the night. Exhausted, Beckett stroked Valrinda’s neck. “Do you think we could fly high enough to not be noticed by whatever caused the smoke?”

Valrinda grimaced. “I could, but I worry about your breathing and the cold. You didn’t do well with the mountain passage, and we’d have to be much higher in case they have a scryer or dragon with them.”

“What about just flying around? If you don’t land until we get back to the road, we’ll be safe, right? The biggest issue is the biter things?” If they couldn’t go over, maybe they could go around.

“They’re the worst,” Valrinda agreed. “We also might run into the territory of some flying chacories, and they have a wingspan similar to mine. Fighting one with you on my back could be dangerous.”

Beckett sighed. “So either we stay on the road and take our chances, we try to go over and maybe get scried, or we go around and potentially run into dangerous beasts.”

“No really good options but to go up and over. And you forgot that going over is going to be both painful and dangerous for you.”

“I can handle it,” Beckett insisted. It was really their only option. “How bad could it be?”

 

He dragged in another painful breath, each one sharp and fast as he tried to get enough oxygen. Despite wearing every layer he had, wrapping a shirt over his head and fast so just his eyes were exposed, and putting every inch of his body against Valrinda’s, Beckett was in danger of turning into a blue popsicle. Famous last words, his mother’s favorite admonishment when his dad was too overconfident, echoed in Beckett’s mind as he shook so hard his teeth clacked despite his clenched jaw.

Wednesday Briefs: Broken Path, Starless Tail Chapter Sixteen

 

Beckett should have waited until she had the spell and crescents, shouldn’t he? “Will she come back out?” he asked Valrinda.

“Of course. A wizardess who doesn’t keep their word doesn’t get much business, would they?”

Oh. Good point. “Okay.” He’d just wait.

An incredibly tall, green-skinned man with yellow eyes and three black horns opened the door. “Here.” He thrust out two huge hands, one holding a bag and the other a water flask like the one Beckett had seen on other’s belts. Beckett nearly fumbled both as he took them. Dragging a miniscule paper from his pocket. “And this.”

Somehow he grabbed that too. “Um, thanks.” The door slammed in his face again, and Beckett turned with wide eyes to Valrinda. “What was that?”

“Her familiar, probably. Or slave.”

“Slave!” Beckett’s voice rose dangerously high, and he stared in shock at Valrinda. “You have slaves?”

“Only if they enslave themselves to gain something. In his case, probably a spell.”

“He traded his body?” Indentured servitude. “We used to have something like that, once upon a time.” That was freaking crazy. The bag he clutched in his right hand was heavy and clinked when he shifted his grip. Beckett went over and leaned against Valrinda. “Can you hold this?” He held out the flask.

“Uh-huh.” Valrinda clasped it in his claws delicately.

“This paper is what, the spell to fill the flask?”

“Yep.”

The writing on the torn section of rough paper was spidery and faint, done in a brown ink only slightly darker than the paper. He squinted at the words, mouthing them silently, not sure if he could figure out the syllables. “Shouldn’t she do that?”

“Do you want the flask only to fill up the first time? You need the spell keyed to you.”

“What if I say it wrong?”

“It’s magic.” Valrinda did his shrug thing. “It’ll work out just fine since she gave you the spell.”

“But she didn’t. Her familiar slash slave person did.”

Valrinda sighed. “But she wrote it for you and did the spell on the flask for you. It’ll work, so stop worrying.”

“You know an awful lot about magic.” Beckett grabbed the laces holding the other bag closed and loosened them to peek inside. Okay. So, azure crescents were literally little shaved pieces of curved blue stones.

“Wait, are these gemstones?”

“What did you think they would be?” Valrinda leaned over him to peek inside, his hot breath gusting and blowing Beckett’s hair into his eyes. “Oh nice. She must have really liked your human tech. She gave you premium crescents. You’ll only need one or two to get a belt and coat.”

Beckett shoved his hair back. “Personal space, remember?” Why did none of the beings in this place respect his space? “I thought they’d be metal coins.”

“You’re leaning against me. And who would use metal to trade? It’s worthless.”

Beckett’s face went even hotter than it had been when Valrinda had been breathing on him. “Oh. Yeah. Sorry.” Wow, how to explain money? Wait… why try? Moving on. “Where do I get a belt and jacket so I don’t freeze while we’re flying or at night. It’s cold at night in the desert, right? Back to the gnome store?”

“No. You’ll need a special seller for this.”

Traipsing through the city with Valrinda at his side, Beckett continued to try not to look like a complete idiot staring at everything and ignore the way everyone stared at him. They found a stall instead of a store that sold dragon armored coats, and he even found one that had scale colors similar to Valrinda’s. “These weren’t… skinned off a dragon, right?” he whispered even as he stroked the smooth scales that went down the long sleeves and all down the split sides of the coat that would hit him about mid-thigh. It even had a hood.

Valrinda and the stall owner’s laugh echoed over the thrum of the market noise. “No, they shed out when we go through a growth cycle, and we sell them. Very popular for armor and for jewelry,” Valrinda said.

Armed with a flexible metal belt that belted around his hips to attach his flask and crescents to and a lightweight jacket that promised to keep him warm while flying, Valrinda and Beckett grabbed food at one of the victualer stalls on their way toward the gates for another crescent that went into Beckett’s bag.

“Should we check how the coat works for you?”

“Yes!” He’d loved flying, it had just been too damn cold. As soon as they were back on the road, Valrinda crouched so Beckett could climb on. Pulling his jacket closed, he leaned down over Valrinda’s neck and grabbed on. “Ready.”

Valrinda’s muscles bunched and he launched himself upward, his wings beating up and down with hard thumps and taking them straight into the sky and leaving all the stares and other creatures behind within a minute. As soon as he leveled out, Beckett lifted his hood and covered his ears and head, but he was able to stay sitting up without getting all wet or freezing.

“This is great!” he shouted. The ground whizzed by underneath them, trees and bushes and streams glinting in the slowly setting sun.

Valrinda looked back, his grin wide enough to show even his sharp back teeth. “I’m glad you like it too!”

“How far can we go tonight?”

Valrinda pointed ahead of them. “How about to the river? There are some traveler cots built near the fords you can use tonight.”

Not sleep outside under the stars with Valrinda? He’d check it out, but maybe he could say it was too cold or hard or something. “Sounds like a place to check out,” he said noncommittally. In the meantime, he had a whole new world to see from the sky. 

Wednesday Briefs: Broken Path, Starless Tail Chapter Fifteen

 

“What about this?” Beckett unstrapped his watch. “Do you think I could trade this?” His jeans had been a hit. For all the word human had been said to him with disdain, the gnome had looked pretty greedy when he’d asked for Beckett’s jeans in trade. It wasn’t even like he could trade them to just anyone either. How many creatures could actually wear them?

“A human toy? It doesn’t work here, but the bits and pieces are valuable. You could get a lot for that. Barter for azure crescents, over there.”

“It’s not a toy. It tells time. Like hours and minutes? And it connects to my phone so I can stream music and tell who is texting or calling me, plus do apps and weather….” Shit, he didn’t have his phone, so really it didn’t do much of any of that. But it was colorful. At least until the battery ran out. It was already at forty-three percent. He should sell it now before that happened.

“Who needs to tell more than morning, midday, and night?” Valrinda asked.

“Lots of people.”

“Why?”

“Well, we work in shifts, mostly. So eight hours a day for most people. And we have breaks for fifteen or thirty minutes. And school was broken up into a bunch of classes.” Did any of that even make sense to Valrinda. It didn’t look like it did. And based on how he’d been traveling since Beckett portaled in, stopping only when he got to where he needed to go or for meals, it made sense that Valrinda wouldn’t. “What are azure crescents? Gemstones?” Beckett asked, deciding to change the subject.

“No, they are made of metal. Every city and town in Clarensticus takes them in exchange for goods or services.”

So it was money, in a rudimentary sense. Beckett turned to look at the store or stall that Valrinda indicated. But it wasn’t either of those. “Why there?” It looked just like a house.

“See those windows?” Valrinda indicated the ones on the right and the second floor. They were red glass and glowed dully despite the sunlight.

“Uh-huh.” Glancing around, Beckett didn’t see any other windows in that color. Or glowing.

“A wizard lives there. Or wizardess. They would be the best bet to barter with for your gadget, if you want azure crescents here. They are always being hired for spells, and they could figure out how to use your human gadget with their magic.”

“Human gadgets aren’t magic,” Beckett insisted, but stopped when he realized there was no way he could explain technology anyway. “Fine. So, what, I just go knock on a wizard’s door?”

“Or wizardess.”

All right then. Beckett took off his watch, then grabbed the strap holding the gate. It creaked when it opened and he winced, looking up. One of those ruby windows opened a crack, but all he saw was a flash of a bright color before it clicked shut.

Reluctant, he dragged his feet on the flagstone path up to the door. Beckett glanced over his shoulder to make sure Valrinda stayed close by. “Don’t leave me,” he called.

“I won’t.”

“Why, are you scared of me?” a small voice piped.

Beckett yelped and turned. His heart felt like it had jumped up and was pounding in his throat, and he choked, staring down at the tiny female… wizardess?

She was wearing a loose tunic in orange, puffy pants with green stripes, and she had a shock of white hair that stood straight up before tipping forward to just touch the purple skin of her forehead. Because she was purple, with dark purple wings that buzzed they were beating so fast.

The wizardess zipped out of her door and flew in a circle around him. “Hmm, a human. Wow. I haven’t seen one of you in a long, long time. At least a hundred years.”

Gaping at her, Beckett flinched when she poked his chest. “Well, what do you want, human?”

He clenched his jaw. What was with all these beings who loved to say humans in that insulting tone and invade his bubble? “My name is Beckett.” He held up his watch, tapping the screen so it turned on before it dangled in front of her. “Do you want to buy this?”

Her purple skin darkened, and he took a step back, not sure what that meant. Was she angry? About to do something dangerous?

“A human trinket?” She flew closer to look at the screen. Creepily, something white with three tendrils on the end that buzzed swept out between her lips as she hummed. Beckett jerked his arm back. “Wait, I want it!”

Ew. Was that her tongue? Beckett had to suppress a shudder. “How many azure crescents?”

“Five hundred.”

“A thousand,” he said automatically.

“Six hundred.”

“Nine hundred.”

“Seven hundred.” The wizardess’s eyes were locked on the watch when he shook it so Beckett took a shot. It was more that she was haggling because that was habit. He had to distract her.

“Final offer. Eight fifty… and a spell that will help me on my journey.”

“A spell? For what?”

“You tell me. I’m traveling to Brozuche.”

“Ahh, I know what you need. A flask spell. It will automatically refill your water container with fresh, cold water no matter how much you drink.”

Beckett widened his eyes. That would come in handy. “Can it be a big water flask? Enough for… a dragon?”

She shrugged. “The spell is the same, no matter the container. But… only eight hundred crescents.”

“Deal.” He held out his hand.

“I don’t want your hand. I want the gadget.”

“Oh, um. Right.” Duh. She wouldn’t know about shaking hands. Beckett switched hands and held out the watch. “Do I have to go buy the flask?”

“No, no. Just wait here.” She turned and flew back into the house, slamming the door behind him.

“Well, shit.” Did he just give her his watch and get screwed? 

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J Ray Lamb

Julie Lynn Hayes

Wednesday Briefs: Broken Path, Starless Tail Chapter Fourteen

 

He would have been nervous to sleep out in the open of the meadow they were in when night fell, but Valrinda curled around Beckett like a living wall that radiated heat to combat the chill of the air. He blended into the darkness of the night, other than the glow of his large eyes and the gleam of heat whenever he opened his mouth to talk.

Plus he’d started a tiny fire for Beckett to warm his dinner, blowing a stream of fire with deadly accuracy onto the pile of sticks inside a ring of rocks already left behind by other travelers.

The deep purple sky overhead was dotted with stars that twinkled. They seemed so close, like could reach out and grab one and then this whole darn quest would be over. Beckett shifted, shivering and then stretching his feet toward the glowing coals of his fire.

“Are your feet okay?”

Beckett had pulled off his socks earlier and examined his feet by the fire’s light. The path was growing more rocky, and he’d stepped on one that felt like it bruised his instep.

“I need shoes.”

“Hmm, you do. What were you thinking, going on a quest without shoes? Humans don’t have tough feet.”

“I didn’t know I was going on a quest. It just sort of happened.”

The rumble against his back tickled, and Beckett squirmed against Valrinda’s smooth side. He was covered in scales, but they felt more like a pliable leather than hardened armor. “Parallax is a tricky one.”

“Well, my dad did want me to keep my feet on the ground., and my head out of the clouds.”

“Your head in the clouds? That is a terrible way to fly. You never know when a mountain might come right out of nowhere, then splat! No more flying.” Valrinda turned and looked right at him, his eye shining in the dark.

“I didn’t mean it literally. I can’t fly.”

“Well of course not. You don’t have wings.” Valrinda rumbled his laugh again. “Do you really think I wouldn’t sense a mountain through some clouds?” He cocked his head, raising one eyebrow ridge.

“Oh. Um, no?” Beckett said hesitantly.

“Of course I would. I am an excellent flier with the most amazing senses.”

“Humble, too.”

Valrinda huffed, actually blowing a ball of flame in the air.

“Hey, watch it!”

“I was. It was nowhere near you.” If nowhere near him was less than two feet from his face. “I have no need to be humble. I am Valrinda, and I am your amazing guide. We will find Parallax’s missing star, and everyone will know and revere our names.”

Beckett frowned. “I thought your name was a secret.”

“Well, yeah… unless I’m a hero! Then everyone should know it. And we’re going to be heroes!” Valrinda sounded so very sure of himself, well, them.

“This hero needs shoes.”

“There’s a small town you might reach in the afternoon, if you keep walking at the pace you are.” Valrinda cocked his head. “Or we could reach it in an hour if you rode on my back.”

“If… I… rode on your back. Are you saying that was even an option?”

“Sure, if you want to. Most humans are too scared to fly. And you said you were walking in the vision, so I didn’t think I should offer when you didn’t ask earlier.”

“I didn’t think you could carry me!”

“Me, carry you? You’re tiny, and I’m Valrinda the amazing! Of course I can carry you.”

Beckett could not believe what he was hearing, and he wanted to smack his dragon guide. He’d spent all day walking, exhausting himself, when he could have ridden on his dragon’s back? “The bruise on my foot is all your fault,” he said darkly.

“What?” Valrinda’s voice was indignant. “You stepped on the rock.”

“You made me walk when I could have flown with you. Oh my god. I cannot believe you. Tomorrow you’re flying me.”

“Sure, I’d love to!” chirped Valrinda.

Beckett closed his eyes. He was going to kill Parallax.

 

Flying was cold. Beckett plastered himself to Valrinda’s back to get as much of his warmth as possible, but the droplets of water in the clouds they burst through clung to him, making him damp and the air up in the sky was much colder than the air by the ground.

It was much faster though, and Valrinda dropped them just outside the small town. It had wide streets, and creatures of all sorts were coming and going. Beckett tried not to stare, but he failed. “How am I going to get shoes?”

He didn’t have any money.

“Trade something. Why not those pants you have on. Those are strange, and I bet someone would probably pay handsomely for that fabric.”

His jeans? They weren’t anything special. “Where, though?”

“Come on. I’ll help you find a general store or tailor. One or the other will work.”

They found a general store, and it turned out Valrinda was right. As soon as Beckett got over his shock at the tiny gnome perched on a stool behind the counter, he was able to barter with him for his jeans.

He came out of the deal with two pairs of leather pants, two shirts, a pair of scaly hide new boots that came up to mid-calf, and a handful of travel ration bars. The gnome let him change in his back room so he could give him the jeans. Beckett even folded them up nicely before he headed outside where Valrinda waited.

Shouldering his much fuller pack, Beckett glanced down at himself then up at his dragon guide. “Okay, now I belong on a fantasy book cover.”

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Julie Lynn Hayes