UNMARKED

43: Hunger for Power

Loose bits of mud and plant growth churned up behind her as the rain pelted down in sheets and lightning crackled and popped in the air around them. Too close to them. Twelve hells, she shouldn't have allowed Fletcher to come with her at all, she thought, as they sprinted for the tree-line. Even she might be in danger. The storm magic itself wouldn't hurt her, but if a tree fell as a result of it - which was far more likely than actually getting struck by lightning - then her body was likely to become a nutritious meal for the scavengers and other flora and fauna of the forest that would benefit.

Lovely thoughts, she mused, crashing into the shelter of the trees. Despite the static energy around them, the forest was eerily quiet stillness about it. The leaves rustled violently in the gale that blew through, but the birds and woodland creatures were silent. The flies and mosquitos that should have been incredibly annoying in the depths of summer were nonexistent. She had never missed the biting bugs so much.

Blayre took deep breaths as she pressed onward, following the trail of ancient magic to wherever it was that Bartley had stashed the egg for safe keeping.

"Blayre!" Fletcher called, "Do you think we should just leave it?" He glanced over his shoulder, but apparently Caval (and perhaps Bartley as well) were keeping the mountainers at bay. But she wasn't sure for how long, or how successfully - considering the storm that was pelting down through the canopy of treetops.

She shook her head, sending water droplets flying. They were building on her lashes and dripping in fat droplets of water down her face. "We can't let the wrong person get their hands on it!" She called back to him, voice raised, even though he was not a foot away, running abreast of her.

Blayre had left Caval's moisture repelling charm behind in her haste to leave, and was cursing herself for it as her clothing stuck wetly to her like the papery moulds they used to make custom fitted, protective masks in the armory back in the Capital. She wondered if she peeled it off once dry if it would retain the shape of her body.

The thread of magic was growing stronger as the pressed on, and the rain pelting down on them no weaker. Blayre wondered how the Mountainer's storm magic worked. The rain itself did not contain magic - of that she was certain, or it wouldn't be drenching her to the bone. She just hoped that they weren't sucking the river dry. Caval must know something about their nature-magic. He knew enough about everything else it seemed.

Blayre stumbled and nearly tripped on a root, interrupting her musings. The adrenaline pumping through her veins like wildfire, was the only thing keeping her upright. That and the determination to prevent anyone else from getting to that egg and doing more damage than was already being done. A part of her wished she had never come on this trip with Caval. But if she hadn't... Bartley (and perhaps Hans too) would have been on their way, unhindered, to Emares City to deliver a powerful artifact to their master, Conal.

Or had Blayre and Caval's stalling of the Mountainer's prevented them from disabling Conal's appointed mages?

None of that mattered now. What's done is done. Now, it was just a matter of getting to the dragon egg before either group could grab it and do more damage than was already being done.

She had never understood those who hungered for power - perhaps because she had never hungered for it herself. The power-hungry were always prepared to go to great lengths to obtain that power. They were never satisfied, and they did not care if they flattened other people on their way to the top with their insatiable hunger. A power-hungry leader was not a good leader. A good leader was empathetic and not hell-bent on revenge. A good leader wanted to make life better for everyone. She hoped that Briannon was that type of leader, but worried for her safety, with her new knowledge of the Crown Mage. She feared that she had severely underestimated Conal - even overlooked the Crown Mage. He had done a good job of being unobtrusive. But what did he want?

"It's not far!" Blayre shouted to Fletcher. The good news was that the wind and rain had not increased at all. And she wondered if an improvement in the weather would be a good thing or a bad thing.

Lightning struck a tree not far in front of them, and it sizzled with heat, pieces of bark and branch flying out at them. Blayre covered her face with an arm, and heard Fletcher loose a cry of pain.

"You ok!?" She shouted, still running. He was still running too, and he wiped away blood from a gash on his cheek.

"I'm fine." Fletcher said, and followed it up with a curse as the tree that had been struck fell just behind them. "I want to pretend that that wasn't calculated, but I'm not very confident in that." He said.

Blayre shook her head. She was severely winded, and they couldn't keep up this pace much longer. The pull of magic was getting stronger though - nearly overwhelming. Far more overwhelming than it had felt before, back in the cavern.

The trees had cleared a bit and were more sparse in this part of the woods, but it caused more harm than good as the rainwater hit their faces like pellets. It was hailing now. As it was, Blayre didn't realize that she was so close to the egg until she was right on top of it - literally.

She stumbled and landed on the thing, feeling the crystal that she'd forgotten about in her pocket jab painfully into her side. Her Sense nearly exploded from the direct contact to the source of magic and she rolled off of the egg, landing in a heap of aching, drenched limbs beside it.

"Are you ok?" Fletcher whispered from somewhere above her. She blinked away the stars that were clouding her vision.

"Sort of," She replied weakly, not wanting to move, now that she was down.

"Blayre, we need to grab it and go."

She struggled to her feet, and reached for the thing, then groaned when she touched it. "Can you carry it? Touching it is a bit ... overstimulating." She said.

"I wish we had planned ahead and brought something to carry it in," Blayre said, watching as Fletcher struggled to lift the smooth surfaced object into his arms.

He laughed heartily despite the situation. "Yes, do plan ahead the next time you go hightailing into the forest for a dragon egg. Shit." His lighthearted comment changed to frustration and he dropped the egg on the ground.

"Fletch! You cracked it!" She cried, reaching down for the egg.

"I didn't crack it," He snapped. "It did that on it's own."

As if in response, another jagged line appeared on the iridescent shell. Blayre gasped.

"This would happen to us," Fletcher complained. The line lengthened.

Now what? Blayre thought miserably. The dratted thing was hatching right before their eyes.   

A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short - that's the funny thing about chapters is that they tend to be all different lengths. I used to think they should all be consistent lengths, but realized a while ago that's not the case! Things are certainly heating up. We are getting ever so close to the end, and I'm going to keep pressing forward with writing today!