Dragonspell - Donita K. Paul [74]
Seezle chuckled again.
“Hornets,” said Dar.
The swarm turned with a purpose and zoomed after the retreating soldiers.
“They won’t hurt us?” asked Kale.
“They pass over those wearing the protection of Paladin.”
Kale, totally confused, frowned at the doneel.
“The glean band, Kale.” Dar sounded patient. Kale had no idea what he was talking about. “On your wrist.”
She looked down at the thin, green rope bracelet he’d fastened on her arm when she first woke in the dungeon.
“Oh.” Kale watched as the last of the swarm disappeared in pursuit of the bisonbecks. “How did the hornets get here?”
“My people,” said Seezle with a impish grin on her tiny face. “We plucked hornet nests from forest trees and hurled them into the fray.” She hopped up and down and giggled.
The menacing hornet drone faded, along with the shrieks from the soldiers being stung.
Kale reached up to her shoulder. “Where’s Gymn?” She patted under the collar of her blouse where the baby dragon might have hidden himself. She began looking around on the ground.
“Here he is.” Dar handed her the limp creature. “He was under the window.”
“Fainted again?” Seezle shook her head in disbelief as she came closer. She put out a finger and touched the little beast cradled in Kale’s palm. “Is he all right? He did just faint, didn’t he?”
Kale squatted beside the kimen so Seezle could see better. The pale blue glow from Seezle’s clothing cast a light on Gymn. He breathed in and out. He twitched and curled more tightly into a ball. No marks scarred his body. He hadn’t been injured in any visible way.
Kale stroked his back. “I think he’s coming around.”
They watched as Gymn opened his eyes, blinked rapidly, and then lifted his head.
“He’ll be all right,” said Kale.
Standing before Kale, Seezle gave full attention to the dragon. Kale reached out with her other hand and tried to touch Seezle’s soft, flowing tunic. Her fingers passed through the “cloth.” She tried again. This time she paused as her hand entered the material. Light spilled across her palm as if she held it under the glow of a lantern. She wiggled her fingers and felt nothing but air.
Seezle jumped back. Kale looked at the kimen’s expression to see whether she was angry. The little face shone with laughter.
“Light!” Seezle exclaimed and twirled away. Kale looked over at Dar and refused to acknowledge the I-told-you-so look on his face.
“I’m hungry,” said Seezle.
Both Dar and Kale turned to stare at her.
“We will be passing through the kitchen to get to the well,” said the tiny creature. “We aren’t in any danger now. Don’t you think it would be nice to stop for tea?”
Kale turned to Dar. That was something she would expect him to suggest.
“Not this time.” He shook his head as he sheathed his weapon. “We still have to go down that well, follow an underground river, and jump onto a dragon flying by. Somehow that doesn’t do a thing to whet my appetite.”
28
LEAP OF FAITH
Getting down the well wasn’t as difficult as Kale anticipated. They sat Leetu in the bucket with her legs straddling the rope, then tied her on. Seezle rode down with Leetu, untied her, and then pushed her off onto the stone bank of the river. Kale climbed in the bucket next, and Dar lowered it. When she stood on the stone bank beside Leetu and Seezle, Dar came down hand over hand on the rope.
Kale checked Leetu for any additional bruises. Even though Kale hadn’t been able to come up with a better plan, she hated the idea of Seezle shoving the emerlindian off and letting her fall on the rock. Holding Gymn, Kale let healing flow into Leetu. When she had done what she could under the circumstances, she turned, frowning at the kimen. The bucket on the well rope hung over the edge of the river, not over the stone ledge that served as the fast-moving river’s bank.
“How did you drop her onto the bank instead of into the river?” Kale asked. She spoke loudly over the rushing tumult of the water.
“We swung back and forth like a pendulum. Haven’t you ever ridden on a swing tied to a tree and jumped off?”
Kale closed