Page 53 of The Dragonrider and the Void
They pressed themselves into the shadows beside a stack of empty barrels. Heavy footsteps approached, then passed as two guards made their rounds, their conversation focused on the celebrations they were missing.
Once the guards had turned the corner, Lark and Venrick moved swiftly to the small gate that separated the service yard from the wilder terrain of the Keep’s eastern slope. There, partially concealed by ornamental shrubs, Hardin waited.
“There you are,” he said in a shaky voice. He cleared his throat, and said with more gusto, “Here it is, the intentional weakness in the wards to trap people doing exactly what we’re about to do.” His attention was focused on the stone wall before him.
To Lark’s eyes, there was nothing remarkable about this section of the wall, but she knew better than to trust appearances in a place as ancient and magically fortified as the Vermillion Keep.
“How does it look?” Venrick asked, scanning their surroundings while Hardin worked.
“Complicated,” Hardin replied, running his hand through his thick brown hair. “The wards here are layered, newer ones over the old. The newer spells I can manage easily enough, but beneath them,” he frowned. “There’s a set of more complex weaving.” Hardin paused, a sign he was communicating with his dragon. Then said, “Quin thinks they must be coming from a type of rune we’ve never encountered before.”
“You can still pass through them, though?” Venrick asked.
“Yes, I can walk right through them. Maybe even pull one of you through at a time but based on what happened in Red Lodge with Joc’s wards… Even if I get you through, there will be a trace. Ash, they might even trigger outright if I bring you through without manipulating them. I’ll need to make a hole in them, but there’s magic that not even Quin recognizes built into these wards. Definitely not a draconic spell.”
“What kind of magic would a bonded dragon be unfamiliar with?” Venrick asked.
“I think I’ve encountered it before,” Lark said. “The magic is likely from the original dragonriders; the wards are probably just like those we encountered in the Northern Sanctuary and the vault inside the archive. The power stored in the runesHardin isn’t familiar with is more than likely a combination of dragonrider and fae magic.”
Hardin pointed at the wall, and said, “They responded when you spoke just now. It’s like they recognized you.”
“Or, they recognize my bond with Nix,” Lark suggested.
“Either way, if you’re right, I think you can help guide me here. If we work together, we might be able to shape a gap in them without anyone noticing,” Hardin said.
“Okay, how do we do this?” Lark asked.
Hardin shrugged, “I find that following my instincts works best.”
Lark clenched her jaw, “Hardin, are you telling me that this entire plan hinges on following your instincts?”
Hardin smiled a playful grin, “It’s hard to explain, moving the wards is kind of like playing the right notes in a song.”
Lark took a deep breath, calming herself.
“And, hey, my instincts have not led me astray so far.”
“Oh, gods,” she groaned. “What do you need me to do?”
Hardin placed his hand on the wall. Lark sensed a shimmer pass through his aura as he pulled on magic from Quin. A breathless moment passed, and he said through clenched teeth, “Lark, put your hand on mine. Feel the channel of power and help me control it.”
Lark placed her hand over Hardin’s on the wall. Immediately she felt an enormous amount of magic held back in him, a dam that was leaking a stream from their bond.
Why did he summon so much energy only to use a trickle?she wondered.
Lark instantly tapped into her bond with Nix, letting her steady stream of fae power flow through her fingers into Hardin’s. They mixed, just as she’d done with both White Eye and Nix’s bond before, but this time, she only needed to focuson controlling one bond. There was an immediate response resonating through her in the ward’s melody.
Hardin relaxed, the amount of magic pent up behind his dam receding to a tolerable amount. “The newer wards are open. But can you feel that?” Hardin asked. “There’s a second flow mixed in with older wards.”
Watching in fascination, Lark suddenly began to see faint lines of green and silver light tracing between the blue web of the wards.Is this what Hardin sees?she wondered, concluding that tapping into the wards with him somehow allowed her to see them as well.
The green and silver lines in the stones formed patterns similar to those Lark had seen in the Northern Sanctuary, runes hidden within the bedrock of the Keep’s foundation. Dragonrider runes and fae runes.
“I can see them,” Lark said.
“You can?” Hardin asked.
“You can’t?” Lark questioned.
