The Dragon Nimbus Novels: Volume II

them.
    Myri laughed and lunged for the brightly feathered bird. He ducked back into the small shelter. She followed and emerged a moment later with two white globes held triumphantly in her hands. “Laying hens. No one has collected the eggs in moons and moons. The hens obligingly laid these two a moment ago just for us. Tonight, we eat properly.”
    Something snapped behind Nimbulan. With the last of his strength he looked in the general direction of the sound. His eyes saw nothing. A tendril of magic stirred within him for the first time since Televarn had stabbed him. He hadn’t the energy or the will to push the magic outward and explore the unusual sound. Yet he had the distinct sensation of something closing, almost as if someone had closed a door with a sigh of relief.
    “Did you hear something, Myrilandel?”
    She paused in her progress toward the hut. She turned in a complete circle, sniffing the air and cocking her head to listen. A smile lit her face. Joy danced in her eyes. “I’m home. I’m home! This is where they need me to be. This is where I need to be. We’re safe here.” She turned another circle, arms outstretched in welcome, head thrown back in laughter.
    He’d never seen a more beautiful woman.
    His magic stirred again, pulling his hand toward the center of the clearing where Myrilandel continued her delighted capering. Curious to know what power tugged at him, he allowed the little magic stirring within him to sharpen his sight.
    Blue! Ley line blue spread before him. Not the intense well of blue hidden beneath the courtyard of the old monastery, but still strong and pulsing with energy. He fine-tuned his focus to follow individual lines. Four, five, six. Six. Unprecedented except for the well. Six lines equally spaced, coming together at the exact point where Myrilandel danced. There the lines crossed and radiated out again.
    A nexus. He’d heard old Master Magicians speak of the legendary points as places of unusual power. Most scholars dismissed the idea as improbable. Ley lines occurred randomly, at irregular intervals. Only rarely did two or three lines cross. No one had recorded more at any time in recent history.
    Nimbulan remembered an essay on the subject in one of the books in the library at the school. A major nexus. Six of the phenomena had been recorded in ancient times, one on each continent of Kardia Hodos. No one mentioned the well. The locations of all six of the nexi had been lost to modern magicians shortly after the departure of the Stargods. After a brief skimming of the essay, he’d seen no mention about the well of ley lines as the source of all power. He’d put it aside to read carefully later, but later never came.
    Gratefully, he positioned himself directly over one of the lines. Energy filled him with enough strength to crawl to Myrilandel and the nexus. His heart pounded stronger and more regularly, pushing blood to all parts of his body. Warmth filled him to the tips of his very cold fingers and toes. Tingles played with the angry wound across his gut, hastening the healing process and restoring some of his lost strength.
    He stood up with only minor dizziness and a raging hunger for food and for Myri.
    A smile grew from his belly and spread outward to every corner of his being. He was not satisfied until he held her tightly against his chest, kissing her soft mouth. They continued their spiral dance together, embracing the clearing and each other. The silver cord connecting their hearts swelled and wrapped them closer together.
    (We have brought you home. Soon we will meet with you and teach you what you need to know.)

Chapter 26
     
    “W hat are we to do with you?” Moncriith asked no one in particular. He stared at the two grubby children from the height of the throne in the great hall of Castle Krej, the ancestral home of Kammeryl d’Astrismos. A conscientious farmer had brought the children to the court after finding them hiding in his barn, stealing milk from his goat.
    The lord himself was busy elsewhere and so Moncriith listened to the farmer’s tale of woe, as he listened to most petitioners for the lord’s justice. Kammeryl d’Astrismos didn’t like to sit still and found dispensing justice tedious. He’d almost blubbered in delight when Moncriith showed him the merits of allowing an educated magician to sit in his stead.
    “You stole food from an honest man’s barn. You milked his goat and stuffed his eggs into your pockets.” He