Read Online Dead Letter by Benjamin Descovich - Free Book Online Page A

bottom of her satchel again and
climbed back into bed, musing on how high a ransom would go if
Kettna fell foul of a calculating kidnapper. The Order had plenty
of shine. What was she worth?
     
    Kettna’s
sleep was disturbed by dreams of dark dragons attacking Calimska.
Daniakesh struggled in chains. Her once magnificent silver wings
were crippled and bound. The serpentine eyes of Calimska’s
benevolent host bore into Kettna, imploring her aid. Kettna tried
to move and found that she too was shackled. They both screamed in
desperation and watched the magical shield of gold that protected
the city fall away like a receding wave. The Guildmaster lay in a
pool of his own blood. The kitchen hand stood over him with a
dripping knife in hand and tears in his eyes. A monstrous red wyrm
dove from the sky and engulfed them all in flames.
     
    The
morning sun bore a blazing hole through Kettna’s eyelids, waking
her in tangled sheets, damp with sweat. The Novice rolled out of
bed to wash her face and freshen up for the daunting day ahead. As
she prepared, the dream lingered. She’d never had a dragon dream so
powerful. Dreaming of Daniakesh was not unusual; this had been part
of her life since the great silver dragon came to her as a child,
but she’d never seen her so frail and in such distress. The fierce
magnificence of the red dragon both scared her and compelled her.
She’d never seen such a massive red so close. The writings and
sketches of scholars gave a rational approximation of length,
wingspan, habits and habitats of all known dragons, but there was
no preparation for the palpable ferocious intent of the red in this
dream.
    And what
was she to make of the magic shield falling or the kitchen hand and
the Guildmaster? Shadows of great dragons passed safely overhead
when the Guildmaster’s magic shield enveloped the city in dragon
season. The Order had a similar shield to protect the Isle of
Solitude. It was tiny compared to the one that protected Calimska.
The Guildmaster was the only one with the power to raise such a
spell over the whole city.
    When he
was the Archmagus, before Kettna’s mother, the Guildmaster had done
the same for the island with the help of the elders. They would
take shifts in the Tower of Arcana to maintain the enchanted
protection. How the Guildmaster had the power to protect the whole
city was beyond Kettna. All of the mages, including Kettna, admired
his power, and feared it. Kettna’s father was adamant that the
Guildmaster had discovered a secret to amplify his natural power,
some ancient device or ritual. Some said Calim’s spirit blessed
them and worked through the Guildmaster each season because he was
ashamed that Daniakesh had left.
    Folktales and rumour had a way of romantically stretching the
truth, leaving the facts difficult to recognise. Her dreams did the
same. What did the kitchen hand have to do with dragons and magic?
He had demonstrated immunity to the illusion of the twins last
night, but he didn’t seem the type to have the fortitude for
killing, let alone the murder of the Guildmaster. She had pinned
her hopes on the kitchen hand finding Rix, so he must have appeared
in her dream as a symbol, perhaps of her fears that Rix had
betrayed his duty to Calimska, or her.
    Dreams
were often fragments of desire and mental confusion. However, this
dream was more vivid than ever before, and the fear penetrated far
deeper. Kettna had tasted dragon fear with Daniakesh’s first
visitation, even when she came to her in dreams. In the past what
she had felt was always closer to extreme awe than fear. It was a
realisation of her limited power beside Daniakesh’s indomitable
majesty. With the red dragon, she was reduced to a core quaking
fear of certain obliteration.
    The
racket of the city agitated Kettna’s nerves after the nightmare.
She missed the early morning sounds on the Isle of Solitude. After
dragon dreams back home, she had found peace listening to the
cockerels crowing and