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aday s work now stood between him and godhood. He took a deepbreath and stared
down at his unconscious enemies. They d keepuntil he needed them, and in the
meantime, the appallingdestruction of Dragons would stop.
He liked the idea of priming the immortality spells with theenemies who had
destroyed so many of his friends and allies. But hehad to find out how they
were doing it before he destroyed them.
Ifthey could steal Dragons souls from their bodies, someoneelse might be able
to do the same.
He had not waited a thousandyears in a prison of his own making so that he
could be ripped fromthe body he d chosen and flung back into the Veil to
become anoblivious, ignorant, squalling infant yet again.
After they re awake and fed, let me know, hetold the keepers. I need to
question them.
Whatever you do,don t touch them or let them get too near you. They redeadly
bastards, though you wouldn t know it to look at themnow. He turned to leave
the Heart of the Citadel, then turnedback. They re skinshifters, you know.
Both keepers hissed with disgust. He turned away, smiling. Good.Neither of his
captives would be able to win sympathy from theirpurely human keepers. The
Calimekkan hatred of the Scarred wouldwork in his favor, and keep his
prisoners imprisoned. He could getback to his work with an easy mind.
Chapter
52
K
ait? Can you hear me?
The whisper was so low, human ears would never have heard it.Kait, though,
shook off the last vestiges of the haze that hadclouded her mind. Yes, she
whispered.
Are you hurt?
No. Hungry, but not hurt. What about you?
I m fine. My head healed while I . . .slept. It still aches a bit, but that
will pass as soon as I
getsomething to eat.
Good. I love you. She lay still while she whisperedto him she could smell
the ones in the cavernous hall whowatched. She feigned unconsciousness,
keeping her muscles relaxedand her breathing steady.
I love you, too. He was quiet for a moment, thenspoke again. I don t know
how much you can see fromwhere you are, but I ve moved around a bit and my
eyes areopen. We re caged, and there are Ancients artifacts allaround us.
I ve tried my lock. We won t get out of itunless you have something with you
that can saw throughmetal.
I don t. You can t do anything withmagic?
No. The locks are spell-shielded.
The Dragons had seen to that, of course. Had she been them, shewould have done
the same thing.
For all they knew, she and Ry alonewere responsible for the disappearance of
the missing
Dragons. Soshe and Ry would be in the strongest prison that Dragons
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couldcontrive, held by their most powerful locks and walled off fromrescue by
their most powerful spells. If they knew to block againstthe talismans, they
could prevent Dùghall or Hasmal orAlarista or anyone else who cared about her
or Ry from seeingeither of them through the viewing glasses. Even if the
Dragonsdidn t know to block against such viewing they might do itinadvertently
by putting up a powerful shield spell to prevent Ryand Kait from using magic
against them.
She had to assume that she and Ry were alone now, invisible toanyone who cared
about them, without hope of rescue. Their fate wasin their own hands.
Do you see any way we might get out? she asked. Anything at all?
No.
Then we ll have to watch and wait.
I ll take the first watch. Sleep now. You Shifted you need the rest. I ll
let you know if anythingchanges.
I love you, she said again.
He chuckled softly. I know. I love you, too.
* * *
Dùghall s soul stretched along a strandof energy that traversed the known
world and the Veil beyond; hisbody sat in a cold tent in semidarkness and near
silence, barelybreathing and worn nearly to death. His consciousness his
self
however, peered through the eyes of a powerfulDragon at a delicate silver
rose that grew in the center of agarden of white flowers. The
Dragon s eyes were fixed on therose, but he didn t really see it; he was
elated and came tobe by himself to celebrate the sweetness of the moment.
Dùghall could have ripped him from the body right then, butsomething about the
man s jubilation made him cautious. Hecould afford to wait a moment or two if
he had to the dangerto him while he was away from his body was great, but
theinformation he might gain from the Dragons could be worth therisk.
So he was careful to disturb nothing in the Dragon s mind,and the man never
suspected his presence. Dùghall spied on himas he touched the pictures of a
long-anticipated future like abride-
to-be touching her wedding silks and dower gifts.Dùghall caught an image of a
platinum sphere
floating in apool of thick emerald liquid, while a single man
finishedadjustments on it. The
Dragon thought of this assembly as theimmortality engine, and he seemed
certain that it would becompleted that day. He pulled vague pictures of
complex machinerybeing installed into the towers of the Ancients that still
dottedthe city from the Dragon s thoughts, too these were, hediscovered, the
Ancients devices the Dragons had been tryingto acquire when Ian and Hasmal
were pretending to be traders. Allthe essential ones were in place. Others
could have been added, butweren t essential, and would not be.
Dùghall finally won the reward he d most hoped for a flashed image of Kait
and Ry, both unconscious andbleeding, penned in tiny padlocked cages guarded
by men andmagic.
The Dragon s elated thoughts rang clear inDùghall s mind.
The engine is ready, thetechnothaumatars are in place, and the priming
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