Dragons Reborn Read Online Free PDF Page B

looked at him.
Here on a paved road, no trees around him, the tall, bearded woodsman seemed
out of place. His dark eyes glanced around, nervous as a bear stepping into the
territory of lions, and his hands were tight around his staff. He wore pelts of
fur, not the burlap tunics most city folk wore, and the forest still covered
him—soil under his fingernails, fallen leaves in his dark hair, sap on his
clothes. He looked and smelled of the woods he had spent his life hiding in,
and now she would take him into the streets of the Cured Temple where no flower
or blade of grass grew.
    "It'll be all
right, sonny." Julian reached out to pat Roen's arm. "We're here with
you. We'll save that boy and be back in the forest by dinnertime."
    Fidelity turned to look
at Julian next, and she felt some warmth, some comfort, fill her breast. The
old man had always been a comfort in her life. She had never seen Julian mad or
nervous, and even now, walking toward the capital and the armies of the Cured
Temple, Julian seemed calm as if strolling through a meadow. Beads were strewn
through his long white beard and hair, and the lines of many years of laughter
crawled across his face. While his son was tall, Julian was short and stocky, and
his fingers reminded Fidelity of tangled oak roots. He too wore fur pelts, and
large muddy boots held his feet.
    "And don't you
worry, lassie." He turned to look at Fidelity. He patted her hand. "The
boy will be all right. We won't let him come to harm."
    Fidelity looked back
toward the city ahead. Her belly clenched, and her eyes stung.
    You're there
somewhere, Cade, she thought. Imprisoned. Hurting. Waiting for death.
You need me.
    Along with the fear,
guilt flooded Fidelity's belly. Tears filled her eyes.
    "I feel so guilty,"
she whispered. "I let him enter the paper mill alone, even though we knew
Mercy might be inside. And then I just . . . just stood there. Just stood there
like a coward as Mercy carried him away."
    Roen placed an arm
around her and pulled her close to him, silent and warm. Julian, meanwhile, kept
patting her hand, and his eyes were soft.
    "You did the right
thing, lassie," said the old man. "No good would have come from
chasing the paladins alone. You came to us for aid, and we're glad to help.
Cade's a good lad, and we'll bring him home."
    Roen nodded. "Aye,
we'll show the paladins a thing or two." His jaw tightened. "We've
hidden for too long maybe, my gaffer and I." He allowed himself a smile. "We'll
show those paladins how dragons fight."
    "They command
hundreds of firedrakes," Fidelity said. "How can we stop them, just
three?"
    "Three of the
finest Vir Requis in the land!" Julian said, chin raised. "Well . . .
three of the finest among only a handful in the world, but fine nonetheless. We're
no mindless beasts like the drakes."
    "And we've got the
element of surprise," Julian added, gaining confidence with every word. "Beatrix
doesn't know of my son and me. The witch's eyes will pop right out of her
sockets to see new dragons attack."
    Fidelity reached into
her pocket and closed her hand around the small metal R she kept there,
one of the letters from the printing press.
    "Sooner or later,"
she said, "Beatrix will bring Cade out to the Temple balcony to show him
off to the crowd. She'll try to purify him before the multitudes, a sign of his
submission. If he refuses the tillvine . . ." Fidelity shuddered. "I
want us in the crowd. Close to the balcony. Ready to shift, soar as dragons,
and grab Cade, then fly as far and fast as we can."
    Roen nodded. "When
will they bring him out?"
    She lowered her head. "I
don't know. It might be tonight. It might not be for months. But I know who
will have the answer." She swallowed. "Domi."
    Roen raised an eyebrow.
"Your sister?"
    She nodded. "She
serves the Cured Temple as a firedrake. She hears the paladins speak. If we can
somehow reach her, Domi can help us."
    If she hasn't become
a full servant of the Temple, Fidelity added silently. She