The cursed towers 252
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Then could ye no' carry her in your claws as ye would a goat or a deer? Isabeau asked desperately.
Ye see, they are all in danger at the tower. An enemy stalks them. I must get there quickly and
warn them. He is a Khan'cohban warrior o' six scars, a formidable enemy indeed. Maya must
come so she can transform my father back into a man. He is the only one that can fight such a
warrior. I have no' been found worthy o' even one scar and Feld is auld. Please, Asrohc! Do ye no'
wish to help the man who saved your life when ye were a babe? The Khan 'cohban will kill him if
he stands in his way and ye ken Lasair, I mean Khan'gharad, shall if Ishbel or Feld is threatened.
The dragon's tail swayed back and forth but it was a thoughtful movement, not one of rage. Very well,
she said at last, but only because I grow bored with all thy words and know I shall hear many more
unless I take thee.
Thank ye! Isabeau cried, and bade the dragon wait until she went to get Maya and a few things she
would need. The dragon yawned and twitched her tail, examining her claws with slitted eyes.
Isabeau ran back to the tree-house and curtly told Maya that she had decided to take her to see her
daughter on the condition she transform her father back from a horse to a man. "Ye must submit to being
carried in the dragon's claws though," she warned. "It is the only way so do no' argue with me. Hurry
now, for I have such a feeling o' foreboding."
She ignored Maya's questions and protestations, gathering together the books she had been studying,
some of Meghan's potions and medicines, and some pots and pans and a griddle—the Cursed Towers
were not well equipped with cooking utensils and Isabeau had no other way of getting any. With the
bulging sack over her shoulder, Isabeau urged Maya down the secret passageway, unable to help feeling
an odd frisson as she remembered the last time she had left the tree-house in a mad scramble.
"What do ye mean I must change your father back into a man?" Maya cried, as Isabeau hurried her
through the forest. "Ye canna mean that the Khan'cohban I changed into a horse still lives—and that he is
your father!"
"Indeed that is what I mean!" Isabeau snapped. "Ish-bel the Winged is my mother, and Iseult's too, and
Khan'gharad the Scarred Warrior is our father. He is the only one who will be able to fight off a warrior
o' six scars for he has seven scars and is famous among the prides for his fighting skills. Ye must gather
your will and transform him back, for he is our only hope o' defeating Magrit's Khan'cohban."
"But I canna!"
"Ye must!" Isabeau cried as they reached the edge of the loch where Asrohc sprawled, gleaming like
polished jade in the light of the setting sun. The dragon whipped round and fixed the Fairge with her
dangerous, cold gaze and the Fairge stared back, hypnotized with terror. Isabeau clambered onto the
dragon's back, and with a mocking cry, Asrohc rose into the air, catching up Maya in her claws as she
swept by.
As they flew through the sky, the mountains below them spread out in an amazing panorama of
sunset-colored peaks and shadowy valleys, with the occasional glint of ice turned to fire dazzling
Isabeau's eyes. The wind was bitterly cold and she huddled her mittened hands under her plaid and
wondered how Maya felt with that great, terrible distance below her and only the untrustworthy cradle of
the dragon's claws preventing her from falling. There was no sound from her and Isabeau could only
hope Asrohc had not misjudged the tightness of her hold.
Then they were over the ridge of sharply pointed mountains and soaring over the Cursed Valley. Isabeau
could see the tall spires of the Towers rising from the forest, the loch lying dark and mysterious before
them.
