DragonKnight - Donita K. Paul [138]
At times she had trouble hearing, and at others, she would hear one thing almost to the exclusion of the other natural noises. She heard a drummerbug until she thought she would go insane. When she mentioned it to Regidor, he said he didn’t hear it at all.
Kale stirred the bubbling liquid and sniffed the fragrance of onions and meat. I find it odd that I’m not tired. Walking is my least favorite mode of transportation. And I’m not really hungry, either. Bromptotterpindosset doesn’t appear tired, and he said he wasn’t hungry.
She peered into the pot and frowned. When did I put carrots in this soup? Regidor must have put them in. He likes carrots.
Bromptotterpindosset, Bardon, and Regidor pored over maps and the diary, trying to retrace their steps. They passed the different items to one another. As far as Kale could tell, they hadn’t resolved anything during their hour-long discussion. She listened to them speculate and wondered if she and Regidor could build a gateway, choosing a place to go.
Bardon pointed first to a spot on one of the maps and then to a mountain to the east. “If we came into this range of mountains from this direction, then that peak is this one on the map.”
Bromptotterpindosset shook his head. “That would mean the scale is wrong. We haven’t traveled nearly long enough to get from there to here.”
“There is the possibility that the map is wrong,” argued Bardon. “I don’t believe this area is recorded on any of these charts. None of the drawings match with the configuration of this range. Everything is just a bit off in either size or spacing.”
“I agree.” The mapmaker folded the map in his hand. “Could we have passed through a gateway without knowing as we traveled through the burrows?”
Bardon scrunched his face. “I’ve never been through a gateway that didn’t squeeze the breath out of me.”
“There was the large gateway made by the wizards to transport dragons and warriors to the Battle of Bartal Springs Lake,” said Regidor. “That one was less constricting.”
“Yes, but the sensation of sticking to air was the same. I don’t think we could walk through a gateway totally oblivious to making the passage.”
Regidor grunted. “Neither do I.”
Kale turned her mind away from the discussion. It seemed to her that they repeated the same argument in a cycle. Soon they would spread out the maps again and try to determine where they were. The minor dragons refused to come out, and she sensed their fear and confusion. Something was not right, but her little friends did not know what.
In the thicket not far from her, a squirrel picked up a nut, scampered along a rotted log, and buried his treasure.
Kale sat up, attending to the small details around her, and waited. Overhead, a bird took off from a limb. The branch shook and three leaves fell to the ground. Kale looked at the fallen leaves in the dirt. They lay in a rough triangular formation.
With her lips pressed together, she watched for more signs of life in these woods. A bee flew to a bush covered with small white flowers, then after a long pause, a bluebird brought a twig to the tree at her left. Her eyes turned to the sky and followed a cloud as it sailed past a mountain peak.
In the thicket not far from her, a squirrel picked up a nut, scampered along a rotted log, and buried his treasure.
Kale nodded her head and waited patiently for the three leaves to fall from the tree after the bird took to the air. They landed, making a triangle on the dirt. In due time, the bee came, and then the bluebird with his twig. She looked up to the mountain and saw the same cloud drift out of sight over the same mountain peak.
“We’re in an illusion,” she announced, loud and clear.
She closed her eyes for a moment, dreading what she might see when she looked at her three male companions.
They had the same discussion over and over, but they didn’t use the exact same words.
She turned her head and opened her eyes.
Bardon, Regidor, and the tumanhofer had stopped what they