The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume I: Volume I

fading magic? Though his soul recoiled from it, Baamin knew he must seek out a source of rogue magic. It was the only way to counter the actions of a foreign rogue and find out who employed him.
     
    “You didn’t kill the cat.” Brevelan’s weak voice sounded more a question than a statement. She cleared her throat and tried again.
    “You could have killed it. But you didn’t.” That was better.
    “I didn’t have to,” Jaylor replied. His voice was a little strained. After all, he was carrying her, and uphill at that.
    She felt strange moving over the terrain without the physical effort of her own limbs. Strange in a very nice way. She couldn’t remember being carried since she had learned to walk.
    She shivered again in memory of why Jaylor found it necessary to carry her. The cat’s mind had been so filled with hatred that it had refused the touch of her empathy.
    Jaylor’s arms tightened and chased away her chill of emptiness. For a few moments she soaked up the nice feeling of his comfort, his care. Then she leaned back just enough to see his face when she spoke. “Why did you spare the beast? Most men would have killed it anyway, just to prove they could. Then they would excuse the slaughter by saying they had to, to make sure it couldn’t come back.”
    She watched a gamut of emotions cross his face before he settled into a smile.
    “There was no need.” He held her eyes with his own for a moment.
    She felt his gaze warm her all the way through to the cold, empty place in her belly. It seemed only natural for her to rest her head once more on his shoulder.
    Jaylor adjusted his hold to grasp her more securely. “Besides, you were shaken enough by the encounter. If I had killed something that large and close, you would’ve been useless for the rest of the day.”
    He was deliberately containing some very strong emotions. She could tell by the tremor in the pulse of his neck. She snuggled just a little closer. The beat of his heart echoed against her ear. Her own heart beat in the same rhythm.
    “I’ve never before encountered an animal who refused the touch of my mind.”
    “I wondered about that. A gray bear is bigger, and just as mean. But one sheltered you. Why not the cat?”
    She clung a little tighter as she recounted the story of the cat in Krej’s great hall. “I think it might be the same cat.”
    “If so, it would associate Krej’s cruelty with all people. No wonder it fought your magic.”
    The ground was becoming rough, strewn with loose pebbles and larger rocks. Behind them, Puppy whined. He trotted closer, brushing his body against Jaylor’s leg.
    “We’ll stop in a moment. There’s a fairly level boulder top just ahead.”
    Something akin to disappointment washed over Brevelan. As soon as they reached that broken boulder he would set her down. The wonderful security of his arms would be withdrawn.
    “Here we are.” All too soon she felt him lowering her to the stone surface, not so much a boulder as a ledge jutting out from the hillside beside the path.
    Puppy didn’t wait for him to step away before he butted his head between them. He licked Brevelan’s face and whined again.
    “I’m fine, Puppy,” she reassured the wolf. As Jaylor straightened, she continued clinging to his neck with one hand. Puppy’s wiggling body pushed farther into her lap. Mica chose that moment to scamper onto her outstretched legs. For a moment all four friends were caught in one hug. Brevelan wanted to cry with relief and happiness.
    “I think we should find something to eat,” she said to mask the depth of the emotion she felt. “Too bad we left the packs and our breakfast in the cave.”
    “No problem.” Jaylor’s grin was infectious. She found herself matching it.
    Her back tingled where his hand still rested. She felt a tremor course through his body to her own.
    The packs appeared beside her and his staff, more gnarled than before, came to his hand. With another blink of his eyes the campfire and breakfast pot appeared.
    “Doesn’t that tire you?” She looked up concerned.
    “Not nearly as much as going without food,” Jaylor replied.

Chapter 15
     
    B aamin leaned all of his bulk into the ancient door. Oak panels, aged to the stiffness of iron, creaked open slowly, held back as much by disuse as by the spell that had sealed them for so many years. Three centuries of dust assaulted his nose. Minute particles tickled and irritated until he sneezed loudly. The cloud