Treasure Ch. 11

Sher bared her teeth. It was probably supposed to be a fierce expression, but her exhaustion rendered it into a look of faint annoyance. "No," she said.

"Please, Sher," Catherine begged, jogging behind Sher as she hunched her shoulders and lengthened her strides. "I haven't bathed in days and I can't find it on my own."

"I don't care."

Catherine paused, feeling momentarily defeated, but then pursed her lips and scurried forward. "I'm coming with you," she decided, and Sher groaned into her palms. A hand touched her shoulder, and when she glanced back, she saw that Adeon had appeared behind her.

"We don't have time," he told her before dragging her to a halt in front of him. "We have to return to the council hall. There will be news about the army's approach, and I'd rather be informed."

"Then go listen to it," Catherine offered. He looked sullen, and she narrowed her eyes at him irritably. "If I'm not fighting, I'd at least like to be clean."

Adeon's mouth quirked in frustration, but he released her. Catherine drew herself up on her tiptoes and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, then darted forward to tail Sher, who was making a beeline for an unfamiliar tunnel on the left. "Take care of her, Sher," he called.

Sher glared at him from over her shoulder. "I'll do no such thing."

"You have my thanks," said Adeon, and then he turned to continue his way down the hall.

Catherine reached Sher's side and beamed up at her. "Thank you, Sher," she said cheerfully. Sher gave her a withering look from the corner of her eye and said nothing. "Are you...are you worried at all?" she tried again, fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve.

At that, Sher turned her head slightly. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"About the battle, of course." Sher snorted, and Catherine frowned up at her. "Surely you're a bit nervous---"

"The soldiers will be roasted alive by dragonfire the moment their heads peek over the horizon. The battle will be brief. I haven't given it a second thought."

The two of them made another turn into a much more narrow tunnel. Sher stooped lower as they walked through it to avoid any low-hanging rocks. Still, as they progressed, Catherine thought the hall seemed to be growing brighter. "Where will you be staying?" she asked after a moment. Sher let out a defeated sigh.

"Could you be a bit clearer, if you're going to subject me to your questions?" she muttered.

"While everyone's fighting...where are we supposed to go? Is there a part of the cave that we're supposed to stay in?" Catherine asked, and Sher suddenly stopped in her tracks. Then, slowly, she turned to look down at her. Her lips had thinned into a stern line.

"Could you be suggesting," she said, "that I plan to cower inside until the battle is over?" Catherine went rigid.

"No---heavens, no. I only thought---" She cleared her throat sheepishly. "I just meant---well, you're a lady..."

Sher arched an eyebrow, looking genuinely, thoroughly puzzled. "And what has that got to do with anything?"

"Really?" Catherine asked. "All of the---the lady-dragons are going to fight?"

"Why wouldn't they?"

"Well," Catherine began, but Sher rolled her eyes and fell back into step. Catherine hurried behind her. "You have to understand," she continued, ignoring the exasperated expression on Sher's face and raising her voice as a dull roar invaded the cavern. It seemed to be growing louder with every step. "Where I come from, women aren't allowed to fight. We're only meant to raise children and cook things. It's one of the reasons I left, you see."

Sher lifted her arms in a long stretch, apparently mollified. "It sounds very tragic."

"Well, I suppose it could be pleasant, but you don't---" They rounded another corner, and Catherine broke off and shielded her eyes with her hands. Brilliant sunlight was shining in through a small hole in the rock, and the roaring sound had grown to a deafening volume. Catherine followed Sher tentatively as she marched forward, and she felt her slippers slap against a few ice-cold puddles that had gathered on the ground. When they finally emerged out into the light, her mouth fell open. They were standing behind a massive waterfall.

The wall of water ran thick and foaming in front of them, misting Catherine with droplets on the way down and pounding steadily against the rocks below. Catherine craned her neck to look over the ledge they were standing on, and she saw a clear pool rippling underneath them, the surface stained green by the flora that grew on the bottom. That pool surged over the lip of the ledge in another waterfall. Even set against the brown-and-white landscape, surrounded by dead trees, it was beautiful.

She heard a splash below her and, through the thick curtain of water, she saw Sher floating on her back towards the edge of the pool. Catherine blinked, but then frantically began tearing at her garments until she was completely bare. Modesty be damned---she wanted to bathe, and she was going to bathe.

The winter air played cruelly over her skin as she padded forward on the slippery rock, and she paused only inches in front of the waterfall. It wasn't a far fall, but the water felt as if it was only a hair's breadth from becoming ice. To say that it would be bracing would be a vast understatement. At least the sun was up, shining cheerfully out from over the trees in the distance...it could be enough.

With a feeling of wild abandon, Catherine shut her eyes, hugged her shoulders, and stepped off of the ledge.

She didn't even have time to scream. One second she was falling through space, the next, she was being swallowed up by that wall of green water. She squinted her eyes shut and clawed her way upwards furiously, then sucked in a gasp of air when her head broke over the surface. The water was deep---much deeper than she had anticipated---and she found herself kicking out frantically to avoid being caught in the wicked current that was pulling the water over the edge. After a lifetime of paddling, she made her way back to the mountain wall and gripped the edge of the pool with blue, shaking fingers. Her hair drifted serenely in the water behind her, like the tendrils of a jellyfish.

Catherine opened her trembling lips and bared her chattering teeth in a smile. "It-t-t-t's l-l-l-lovel-ly here," she said.

Sher watched her from a few feet away, looking bored. Her arms were draped over the ledge, and a much smaller waterfall was beating down over her shoulders. Her wet hair looked like a pane of solid gold. "The water channels through the mountains. Some say that all of the caves inside the Whispering Mountains used to be rivers, all leading here, to this very spot."

Catherine swallowed and tried to steady her limbs, which had all seized up in a series of violent jerks. "B-b-but where does all the w-w-w-w---" She clenched her disobedient jaw. "---w-water c-come from?" she finally gasped.

"Melting snow, I think," Sher said, resting her chin in her arms and turning away.

Unable to manage another syllable, Catherine only nodded and began fervently scrubbing at her skin with one hand. Her breath was coming in short, desperate bursts. She cursed herself when she realized that she had left her clothes up there, far, far above her, and wondered briefly what could possibly be worse: freezing to death in a pool of liquid ice or making the trek up to retrieve them in the frigid air.

Almost immediately after that thought entered her brain, a shadow fell over her and a lump of fabric fell to the ground in front of her in a puddle. Catherine paused, then let her gaze ascend; up and up until she met a pair of ruby-red eyes.

"I don't suppose these are yours?" Cael said, and Catherine quickly clapped one arm over her exposed chest. "Oh, don't be silly. I already admired them from afar, hiding is just a waste of energy. And I think you'll be needing that in excess, considering what's to come." He was standing only inches away from her fingers, tall and pale and as slender as a spring twig. He had also shorn himself of his clothes and from this angle, Catherine was very distressed to see that she had an unhindered view of his anatomy.

The lower half of Sher's face was still buried in her arms, but her eyes were glaring at a pebble on the ground. "When I went off for a bath, I didn't realize I invited every soul in the mountains to join me."

"I could go fetch the rest of them if you'd like," Cael offered. Sher transferred her glare to his face. "Well, you're a bit touchy today. I thought that after the events that transpired yesterday, you'd be in better spirits." Sher's expression didn't change, but one of her hands clenched against the ground; dragging trails into the rock with her nails. Cael shook his head in mock-scorn, but there was a smile playing at his mouth. "Not to worry. I only came to reacquaint our little peace-monger with her clothes, and to bid the two of you a fond farewell."

Catherine stared at the pile of fabric longingly, her hand still clasped over her bosom, and then looked up at Cael. "G-g-g-go a-w-w-way," she said around her teeth, which were still chattering a rapid pattern against her jaw.

"I wish I could say that it's been a pleasure as well, but I'm afraid I can't," Cael said, taking a short step away from the pool's edge to give Catherine a little more room. Incensed but half-frozen, Catherine gave in and herself up onto the rock in front of him. Once she had shaken as much water from her body as she could, she dove into her dress and clutched the blue fabric around her like a blanket.

"Where are you going?" she finally choked out.

"Oh, I never fare well in the face of battle. I thought I would leave all of that in your very capable hands."

Catherine gaped at him. "You're leaving? But...but the others---"

"There are plenty of 'others'. They won't even notice my absence, especially since they've all conveniently gathered at the other side of the mountain."

Catherine lifted her chin defiantly. "We'll notice."

"I'm not terribly worried about that. I know she doesn't give a damn, and you...well. Nobody will listen to you, will they?" Catherine's jaw dropped in disbelief, and he bent his knees so his face was a little closer to hers. White scales were rippling out over his body and his limbs were lengthening into enormous talons. "Best of luck to you. I hope the two of you don't die, and I hope you know that I mean that very sincerely."

"...I hope you don't die either," Catherine muttered reluctantly. Sher continued to study the ground and said nothing.

"I won't," Cael told her as pearly wings ripped open behind his shoulders. "That's the beauty of it."

And then he leapt into the sky; growing larger and larger and smaller and smaller until he was a dragon-shaped speck soaring into the horizon.

---

Catherine was still shaking when she and Sher emerged into the main cavern. Sher eyed her as they walked, curiosity tainting her blank expression.

"I've never seen a human with blue lips before," she finally said. "Is that something that happens a lot?"

Catherine hugged her arms a little closer to her chest. Her stomach was churning unpleasantly, and she had to pause to swallow back a ripple of nausea before she spoke. "No. Not really."

The cave was a riot of activity. Catherine had thought the basin-like chamber had been packed the bursting the day before and was astounded to see that, somehow, even more creatures had crammed themselves inside. It looked as if there were several more dragons in the mountain now, (although, that might have been simply because most of them looked like dragons now, all scaly and ten times too big), and a couple clusters of humans had confined themselves to corners, strapping on armor and scraping weapons with whetstones. They all looked wary, and probably for good reason; Catherine could see a number of dragons eyeing them with curiosity and unease. The largest group of men were wearing robes that looked a lot like Jiro's, but neither Jiro nor Kai seemed to be among them.

She stayed close to Sher as the dragon wove her way through the maze of bodies, taking care to duck when she did to avoid several low-swinging tails. Finally, through all the chaos, Catherine saw of a familiar flash of white hair near Kai's men.

Adeon looked simultaneously relieved and troubled when he caught sight of her approaching. Behind him, Roane and Shax were standing against the wall, both in various stages of undress. Roane, (who was wearing a loose shirt and no trousers), was chewing manically on one of his clawed fingernails, but his body loosened a bit when he saw Catherine. Catherine managed to give him a weak smile before turning away. She was less than pleased to discover that she had been right. Other than the soldiers, every body in the vicinity was almost entirely bare.

"You look pale," Adeon said, stooping down to get a good look at her face, and she wrenched her gaze from the crowd around her to look up at him. "How are you feeling?"

Catherine nodded and immediately screwed her eyes shut when the motion sent her stomach into another gurgling fit. She was very, very aware of the fact that the men next to them were cooking that same sort of porridge Jiro had made the day before. The smell of it was drilling into her brain. "Fine," she said shortly.

Adeon didn't look convinced, but he dropped the subject anyway. "A scout just returned. He suspects they'll be arriving in minutes." His expression softened. "I'm glad you're here. I wanted to see you again, before..." He didn't finish. He didn't have to.

"Don't you talk like that," she said, and he flinched at the intensity of her stare. "If you don't come back to me, Adeon, I...I shall be very cross with you!" she finished viciously.

His lips twitched in amusement. "Really."

"Yes. And I'll hunt you down and scold you until we both wither into dust," she said. He let out a little laugh and framed her face in his hands.

"I'll be sure to take care, then," he said.

"You'd better," Catherine began, but then he was crushing his mouth against hers and the whole world was warm and spinning and she couldn't speak, not even if she wanted to.

When he pulled away his lovely eyes were hazy, and she was content to gaze into them and feel the feather-soft touch of his fingers on her temple right until her stomach gave another urgent lurch. Her eyes went wide. "Oh, no," she moaned, turning away from him and stumbling forward. She crumpled onto the ground on her hands and knees and only had a moment to push her hair back from her face before her abdomen gave one last, wretched heave and sent the contents of her stomach splattering onto the stone floor. Her fingers twitched against the rock as she gagged a few more times, even though her stomach was empty. When it was all finally over, she lifted a shaky hand to scrub her mouth with the back of her sleeve, feeling weak.

"Maybe it was the wine," she heard Shax say as Adeon dropped onto his knees behind her.

"Perhaps," he said slowly, in the tone of voice that implied he knew it wasn't that at all. He rested his hands on her shoulders and she leaned backwards against his chest, feeling the lull of his heartbeat on her spine. "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she said. Her eyes opened, and she saw a cavern full of dragons staring at her from all sides. The hall had gone quiet. Her cheeks flushed scarlet as she noticed the endless lines of jewel-hued eyes all trained right on her face. "I'm so sorry," she added faintly.

"Don't apologize," Adeon said, resting his chin on the crown of her head. "Just be still for a moment." Feeling curiously weightless, Catherine lifted a hand to her shoulder and grazed his knuckles with her fingers. The dull roar of conversation began to leak back into the cavern, and within seconds the area was writhing with activity again, like nothing had ever happened.

But deep in the crowd, a single figure remained deathly still.

Catherine saw Grindel staring out at the two of them from in between the bustling bodies. His amber eyes were wide and his lips were parted slightly in shock. When he caught Catherine staring, he reeled back as if her gaze held some sort of physical weight.

The green-haired dragon touched his arm, and Grindel's gaze snapped back into focus. He shot Catherine one last, intense, unfathomable look and then followed the dragon outside, pulling his shirt off as he walked.

"Catherine," Adeon said, and she jumped. He was watching her from over her shoulder, looking apprehensive. "What is it?"

Catherine scanned their surroundings, and once she was certain that all the other dragons were preoccupied with something else, she leaned in close to him. "I think Grindel...knows," she said. "About...about what we were discussing earlier. And I don't think that's a good thing." Behind her, Adeon stiffened.

"How can you tell?"

She watched Grindel's retreating back and swallowed. "I saw his face..."

Adeon's grip tightened on her shoulders, just for a moment. "Don't...leave the halls," he said. "I'll keep my eye on him---I can keep close to the cavern entrance. But I need you to stay hidden." His nostrils flared. "He's unpredictable, and that can be dangerous---far more dangerous than even the most well-armed legion of men."

Catherine's mouth was dry. The reality of her situation had suddenly struck her, as hard and blunt and unforgiving as the hilt of a blade. She was surrounded on all sides. If men didn't kill her, a dragon certainly might.

"I don't like feeling helpless like this," she said. She felt rather than saw Adeon grimace before he stood and hauled her to her feet. "I don't like having to hide in the dark and hope for the best."

"I wouldn't leave you somewhere if I wasn't certain I could keep you safe. And the halls here are vast." Catherine cast her gaze downwards, away from him, but he tugged her chin back up towards him. "Don't you trust me?"

"It isn't you I'm having trouble trusting." She folded her arms and shuddered. "It's the rest of the world."

Somewhere far outside of the cavern, there came a barking shout. The hairs on the back of Catherine's neck prickled up to attention as hordes of dragons streamed through the cavern exit, their flesh rippling with scales and spikes and menacing, outstretched wings as they began to shift in anticipation. Her fingers clutched hard at the material of her sleeve. It was time.

The rest of the world had arrived.

Adeon's grip suddenly tightened on her jaw, and she gasped as he jerked her close to him by the waist and gave her a fierce, frantic kiss. When he released her, she felt dizzy. "Go," he said breathlessly. She let her fingertips linger on his arm, just for a moment, and then turned and hurried into the hall. From the corner of her eye, she saw him watch her for several seconds, until he seemed absolutely certain that she wasn't going to turn around again, and then he headed for the exit. Sunlight struck his skin, reflecting off of the brilliant scales that began to feather over his chest.

She wrenched her eyes away from him. She couldn't look at him for another second. Part of her wished she was still under the spell of the fairy wine; high and happy and gloriously unaware of everything happening outside of her head. She squinted her eyes shut when she heard a voice---probably Grindel's---shouting out something to the crowd, and quickened her pace until the roar of response from the rest of the dragons was something soft and muffled. She couldn't help but dwell over Sher's accusation. She still felt like a coward, even if she was only hiding to assuage Adeon.

She passed another tunnel on her way back, and she paused when she saw a dark shadow slither over the wall. Soft voices were echoing out from the dark, and the sounds made her heart fluttered with hope. The idea that she wasn't the only one locked in the labyrinthine tunnels made her feel a little less despicable. After a moment's hesitation, she slipped into the tunnel and followed the sounds of muted conversation until she came to a point where the tunnel opened into a wide bowl.