The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

above it was so steep and high, no one could drop into the grounds from above, not even from dragonback. There was only one pathway leading up to the closed gates from the village, at the base of the cliff. A daring climber might try to scale the sharp rocks to the castle walls. But the walls themselves were embedded with shards of knife-sharp volcanic material.
    Castle Krej. Impregnable. The last stronghold of the rebels during the Great War of Disruption. Conquered only by the unified might of the Commune. A symbol of the civil wars that should never come again.
    “We can bring Mikka out, or we can drop all of us in.” Jaylor’s voice cut into Darville’s thoughts. “We don’t have the strength for both.”
    When Darville looked around, he realized that all twelve of the master magicians were behind him, each on a different dragon.
    “If we rescue the queen, we can then settle our score with Krej at our leisure,” Slippy said.
    “With Krej, there will be no leisure. We must end this battle here and now. Send me down to him.” Darville closed his eyes and prayed that he had made the right decision. His actions might cost him his life, or worse, the life of Mikka. But if he died, he would take Krej with him. The kingdom would be safe.
    For a while.
    “Are you sure, Darville? We can get Mikka out safely,” Jaylor argued.
    “I’ve got to remove Krej from his seat of power. We’ll never break his defenses with an army.”
    “The boy is right,” Zolltarn agreed. “If we do not penetrate his base of power now, we will never again have peace from him and his ilk.”
    “Take us down, Seannin,” Darville commanded his mount. “And give my regards to Shayla.”
     
    Mikka lifted her head and sniffed. Something was wrong, very wrong indeed.
    There were a lot of things wrong in Krej’s castle—that hideous altar among them. But this was something else. She sniffed again, with Rosie’s help, for the difference in the air. Her latest hiding place, in the tiny cupboard underneath the back staircase, between the Great Hall and the dining hall, was too close to the kitchen. The scents of Krej’s next meal overshadowed the smell of the individuals who passed by.
    So far, she had seen only two servants in the entire castle: a man and a woman, old, nearly blind, and oblivious to all but their assigned tasks. The soldiers who lined the outer walls and marched in squads around the courtyard never entered the main building of the castle.
    Carefully, Mikka edged toward the paneling that closed off her hiding place. She listened and tested the air for something different.
    Roasting meat. Baking bread. Boiling tubers. Someone whipping cream for the sweet. Sliced cheese and apples for the savory. But no human scent near here.
    She sent a tiny sliver of magic into the Great Hall with the tormented creatures trapped inside the sculptures. Janataea had been there twice in the last hour. Her boisterous prayers to Simurgh were not concealed. The servants avoided her and the hall. The room was empty now.
    As were the dining hall and the offices behind it.
    Did she dare risk a probe upward to the towers and bedchambers? Janataea would sense the magic and follow it back to Mikka. Better to slip up there, without magic, and hide somewhere new, somewhere Janataea had already looked.
    She took the chance that the guards on the battlements would be drowsy. Perhaps they didn’t know that she didn’t belong there. She flitted past her tower prison, upward to the door and covered parapet.
    Starlight and a faint sliver of a new moon outlined the shadows below her. Campfires in the distance. An army was camped out there. Darville’s troops waiting to attack, or Krej’s advance guard? No cloud marred her view of the heavens. Crisp salt air warned of a frost. All was quiet. Too quiet.
    An air of expectancy hovered around the castle, as if the very stones of the castle watched and waited.
    Darville wouldn’t wait much longer. He must attack soon. A siege was useless against a castle with three internal wells and a year’s worth of food in storage.
    Mikka searched the walls again with her cat senses. There must be a way she could help her husband and his troops invade this bastion!
    Then she caught a new scent on the wind. Sweeter, spicier than the salt air of the Bay. Colder than the winds on the desert plateau in winter.
    She looked up. Starlight winked at her, then blanked out. Huge gaps occurred in the vault of the heavens.