Dragonmaster by Karleen Bradford

his horror, he felt tears start up. He dashed them away furiously, leaving a streak of blood across one cheek.
    “There is nothing left for me but to fulfill my vow toCaulda, Sele, and in so doing, perhaps stave off her revenge upon Taun. That is all I can hope for. If Catryn foils me in this, then I will not only be a failure, but my whole life will have been lived in vain.”
    “Catryn will not foil you,” the Sele said.
    “But if she accompanies me, my vow is broken!”
    “She will not do that. She knows this is something that you must do without her, whatever the outcome. But allow her a measure of concern, Norl. At least allow her that.”
    Norl fell silent. “What, then, is your part in this?” he asked finally, all the fire gone from his voice.
    “That I do not know,” Sele the Plump replied. “We will have to find that out, you and I.”
    “And Hhana?” Norl asked. “The…dragonling?” He could hardly bring himself to say the word.
    “Even less do I know that,” the Sele said.
    Catryn sat for a long while beside the ever-flowing stream, then she stood and reached for her seeing bowl. She would do as the Protector and the Elders had bade her. She would honour Norl’s vow and not follow him again, but she must know how he fared. Guilt warred with worry in her mind. She remembered his tortured, bitter words that last night: “ It’s no use. There is no magic in me. You were wrong, Catryn.” She had not contradicted him. She had doubted him—and she had let him see her doubt. If he wentto his death now it was because of her. It was because she had not taught him well enough; she had let him go unprepared.
    She dipped the bowl into the water and filled it to the brim, then she bent over it and stared into its depths. She could see Norl there, see the Sele beside him. It was good that Sele the Plump was with him, but that did little to ease the despair that she felt. Then, shimmering behind them, she saw the form of the maiden who had been with Norl in the tavern.
    Maid—but not a maid? The image gleamed an unholy green. Catryn honed her senses, blocked out Norl and the Sele, arrowed in on this new creature. And her blood ran cold.
    Dragon!
    Hhana sat up abruptly, startling Norl.
    “What is it?” he asked. Hhana’s brow was furrowed; she had a puzzled, almost frightened look on her face.
    “I heard something…No, that’s not right. I felt something…But it was inside my mind…” She raised one hand to her temple, then stopped as the talons on that hand raked across her forehead. She dropped her hand as if scalded and stared at it. “So it is real,” she whispered. “I thought it but a dream.”
    “What did you hear? Or feel?” Sele the Plump asked. His voice was unusually sharp.
    Hhana hesitated for a moment, then shook her head.“It’s gone,” she said. She was staringather nails. She looked up at Norl. “If what this Sele says is true,” she demanded, “if I am truly dragonling, what is it then that I must do?”
    But it was Sele the Plump who answered her. “For now, nothing,” it said. “We go together on this quest. We will have to trust that we will know what to do when the time is right.”
    At that, Norl burst out, “We are not together! This is my quest—it is not your affair. Either of you!”
    “But we are here,” Sele the Plump responded. “I know you must face Caulda alone, but allow us to accompany you as far as we can. Allow us that, Norl, I beg you. There is a reason why we have been brought together, of that I am certain.” Its voice trembled with the intensity of its words, unusual for the Sele.
    Hhana sprang to her feet and faced Norl defiantly. “I once said that perhaps I could help you,” she said. “You mocked me then. You know you did,” she added quickly as Norl was about to interrupt, “but I may have spoken more truly than I knew.” She turned to stare at Sele the Plump. “I know not what is happening to me, but I do know that if this Sele