by JD Monroe
A flutter of wings thundered overhead, and she saw the familiar blue scales of Virnan’s form gleaming in the moonlight. A disheveled looking woman in blue landed hard on the stone, glaring up at him. Her clothes were filthy, spattered in blood and dirt. But her anger was quickly forgotten as she rushed for Kaldir. Silver hair streamed behind her as she knelt at his side.
“Irazia,” she shouted. “Please!”
The older woman looked back at her and nodded. “I’ll do what I can,” she said. She shoved up her sleeves and pressed her hands tight to his chest. A warm yellow glow enveloped them. Her face was turned up to the sky, her eyes gleaming bright silver.
“Would you at least put me down?” she said. As soon as her feet were on the ground, she dashed for Kaldir.
“Sohaila,” Velati protested.
“I just need to be here,” she murmured. Through the blur of tears, she couldn’t even tell if he was breathing.
Just move.
Irazia shot her a hard look. “Pray, but do not interfere any further. You’re on the edge.” Her gaze softened. “If we can save him, you should be there when he wakes. Wouldn’t that be the best outcome?”
They all told her to think of Kaldir, burdened without her. But what about her? If she failed him, how would she forgive herself? How could she live with herself, knowing she chose her life over his?
Her hand trembled, but Velati grabbed both her hands before she could make a decision. This time, he didn’t pull her away, but instead began to pray quietly. “Blessed Skymother, hear us now and protect our brother,” he murmured, trailing off into his own private prayers.
Blessed Skymother, hear my plea. Don’t take him. If he is flying toward you, send him home. Send him back to those who love him. Reward his bravery with a long life. Tell him it is not time, that those bells are not for him.
You cannot take him.
In over a century of life, Kaldir had never seen such a beautiful sunset. From a terrace of pristine white stone, he stared out at an endless, glittering sea. The sun flashed over the glassy surface like a thousand fine gemstones spilled on black velvet.
Looking around, he frowned in confusion. The white terrace rose from the sea, but it was an island. He wasn’t home in Ironhold, but this was not the cold, imposing stone of Adamantine Rise either. Wasn’t he doing something before he arrived? Something important…
A lovely woman with a full, curvy figure materialized next to him. Her long silver hair was a stark contrast to the deep brown of her skin. Her violet eyes were wide and expressive, though they seemed filled with sadness. “Hello, an’kadi,” she said. Her voice was oddly familiar and warm. A silver crown with a blue stone rested on her brow.
“Hello,” he said, bowing politely. He frowned. “I apologize for my rudeness. I don’t…I don’t know how I got here.”
She smiled and touched his cheek. Her touch was pure warmth, sunshine on his face, a perfect summer breeze under his wings. “That’s not important. Isn’t it beautiful?”
He looked out over the sea again. “I’ve never seen anything so lovely,” he said. In the distance, the silhouette of a dragon flew toward them, wings spread wide. Its wings seemed to shed sparks, like a blade glancing off stone. “Am I dreaming?”
“No,” she said. “You fought bravely, an’kadi. But you fell.”
Realization dawned on him. “Then I’m…and you’re…” His eyes widened. He fell to his knees and pressed his forehead to the warm stone. “I didn’t mean to be disrespectful.”
“Rise, Kaldir,” she said gently. Her warm fingers traced down his arm, then gripped his hand tightly to pull him up. There were endless depths in her violet eyes, lightning flashing and stars gleaming as if the entire night sky was captured there. “You can stay here and rest if you like.”
He stared out over the horizon. There was something pulling at his chest. He’d forgotten something. In flashes, he saw warm amber eyes, and a smile that had been altered but unbroken by deep scars. “I think someone’s waiting for me.”
“Who?”
“I can’t remember her name,” he said sadly. All he could think of was a comet, a bright light flying ahead of him in the darkness.
The silver-haired woman smiled and tilted her head up. Above them, a single bright star lit the night, pulsing like a heartbeat. “She calls for you still.” She chuckled, a pleasant flush rising in her cheeks. “It has been many years since one of my chosen has shone so bright. And many more since one of them spoke so brazenly to me. If I’ve understood correctly, she says she’ll be at my door shortly to demand I return you.” She laughed, a strange sound like temple bells. “She is certainly bold, isn’t she?”
He bowed again. “I apologize.”
“Do not apologize for love,” she said. She grasped his chin, tilting his face up. As he stared up at her, massive wings formed of pure golden light spread behind her. They seemed to stretch impossibly wide, as far as the eye could see. “What do you desire?”
He stared up at the star. As it brightened, he felt that pull in his chest again, and the faintest whisper in his ear. Come home to me. You promised. He knew that voice.
“If it pleases you, I will stay,” he said. He bowed his head. “But I would like a bit more time. I feel that there’s something I was supposed to do.”
She raised his chin again. “Do not bow your head, an’kadi. You have no reason for fear or shame.” She gently touched his cheeks, then kissed his brow. “You are welcome here if you wish to rest. But if you wish to awaken, there is still so much to be done. Serve my children. Be their protector. And love well the one who has been entrusted to you.” She gestured behind her, where a stone archway filled with light now stood in the center of the terrace. “Know that my blessing and love are always with you, my beloved.”
He knelt, averting his eyes. “Thank you.”
She stepped aside in a swirl of pale blue skirts. “Now go. And tell her there’s no need to shout. I hear her just fine.”
He rose, stealing one last glance at the beautiful sunset.
Please come back to me.
“I’m coming,” he murmured, taking a step through the shimmering arch.
With a shuddering gasp, Kaldir opened his eyes to a silver-haired woman holding his shoulders firmly. His mouth worked soundlessly as a shock of pain overwhelmed him. His vision went white, and he regretted opening his eyes.
“Calm down,” the woman said matter-of-factly. “Welcome back.” She pushed gently on his shoulder. “I need you to not be a stubborn dragon and try to get up. You have a few holes that weren’t there before, and I’d like to keep them closed.”
The silver lanterns and blue silks hanging overhead told him he was in the healing pavilion in Adamantine Rise. He smelled blood and herbs, and heard a dozen other heartbeats around him.
He tried to speak, but his throat didn’t respond. The healer disappeared for a moment, then returned with a small cup. Holding his head up, she tipped the cup to his lips. Heavily-sweetened tea soothed his throat enough to croak a few words. “Where is she?”
“Sohaila?” the woman asked.
That was her name. At the sound of her name, like a song he’d always known, the memories flooded into his mind. “Sohaila,” he repeated. “Yes.”
“She’s been working non-stop,” the silver-haired woman said. “I told her to take a nap.”
He let out a sigh of relief. “How long?”
“A few hours at least. She’s earned it,” she said. Then she laughed. “Sorry. You’ve been sleeping for…three days, I believe.”
He groaned and tried to sit up, but fire rippled through his belly. “I need to—”
“Boy, if you tell me you need to get out there and fight, I will tie you to this bed myself, and if you think I’m kidding, ask your friend Velatizenahros,” she said archly. She tipped the tea into his mouth again, and he obediently drank it. She frowned at him. “We have worked way too hard to put your intestines back where they belong for
you to get up and ruin it all.”
“What happened?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “Oh, here’s the other one who won’t get out of my hair,” she said. “He’s awake. I told you he’d be fine. Maybe now you can find somewhere else to be that isn’t underfoot.”
To his surprise, Zayir appeared next to the healer. Somehow, he’d acquired a fine blue silk coat and shaved properly. If not for the sunken cheeks, he would have looked normal as ever. His amber eyes were narrowed. Heat poured off him. “Are you going to live?”
Kaldir glanced at the healer. “Yes,” she said. “He needs to rest a few more days.”
Zayir lunged in, throwing a punch. His fist stopped a scant inch from Kaldir’s face. He leaned in. “I owe you one,” he hissed. “I sat in that goddamned cell for another full day before someone let me out, and then all the good fighting was over.”
“Not sorry,” Kaldir said, forcing a smile. Even his face hurt.
The silver-haired woman grabbed Zayir’s arm and hauled him back. Her glare would have put Viraszel to shame. “If you punch my patient…”
“I do apologize, sister,” Zayir said smoothly, fixing a smile on his face. “I’ll be happy to stay and make sure he stays put.” He glared at Kaldir. “Out of danger.”
The healer put her finger in his face. “You’d better keep your hands to yourself, or you can go back to that cell.”
“I promise,” he said solemnly. She gave him a stern look as she walked away. Zayir sat on the low stool next the bed and glared in silence for a while. “I’m glad you’re not dead,” he finally said, his tone making it unclear if he was being honest.
“As am I,” Kaldir replied. He carefully eased up on one elbow. Pain lanced through him from shoulder to hip. Zayir leaned forward and pulled back the sheet over his chest, uncovering him to the waist. Huge punctures marked his chest, slathered in thick, greenish ointment. Tight bandages were wrapped around his belly and forearms. He felt like a giant bruise from the top of his head to the tips of his toes.
“You look like shit,” Zayir said. “And this is a marked improvement over two days ago.”
“Careful, I might get the idea that you care about my well-being,” Kaldir said. The prince smirked. Kaldir laid flat again, feeling like he’d run from Farath to Ironhold on foot. “Tell me what happened.”
“I wouldn’t know. Some shak-ersath locked me in a cell,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “By the time your mouthy partner remembered me and sent someone down, most of the fighting in the city was done. Yesterday, the Iron Blade intercepted an incoming army from the south.”
“From the Iveron?”
Zayir nodded. “They were coming up the southern road and met eight hundred of our best. It was…a short battle. The Iron Blade destroyed their siege weapons in a matter of minutes and surrounded them in a wall of flame. Most of them surrendered on the spot,” he said. “I don’t know how you convinced my sister to send half her force here.”
“Really? You don’t know how I convinced your sister to send an army?” Kaldir said drily. “Even when you’re pretending, you’re not that stupid.”
He sighed. “This will do nothing to quell the rumors of our unhealthy codependence.”
“So, it’s over?”
“I don’t know,” Zayir said. “Your tattooed friend with the icy demeanor and haughty attitude thinks so.”
“You’re calling someone else haughty?”
“I know my kind,” Zayir said. “I’d say we won, but I’m not sure that’s the right word. The city is…it’s awful. A lot of people died. Far more of them than us, but…” He lowered his eyes. “I could go the rest of my life without seeing such things. And may the Skymother forgive me, but all I can think is that I am thankful my family was not here. I bear no love for Halmerah, but my heart aches for what her people suffered.” He managed a wry smile. “But I meant what I said. When we leave here, I am never coming back. Nothing good comes of our visits here.”
He laughed, which made his entire body ache. He groaned.
“Stop laughing,” Zayir said. His eyes drifted down, and he grasped Kaldir’s hand tight. Warmth poured into him. “I truly am glad you’re still here.”
He met the prince’s solemn gaze. “As am I.”
“I still intend to punch you soundly when you’re not at such an obvious disadvantage,” he said. “And I will not hold back. My goal is to put you on your ass. Preferably in front of as many people as possible.”
He smiled. “I’ll allow it.”
“Miss, I told you to rest,” a harried-sounding voice called.
Zayir looked up and smiled. Hope sprang up in Kaldir’s chest as he glimpsed a flutter of blue fabric. Clad in a light blue dress, her hair loose around her shoulders, Azeria leaned against his bed, breathing hard. He felt guilty at the pang of disappointment that rippled through him. He had hoped to see Sohaila, but he was pleased to see Azeria on her feet.
She raised an eyebrow. “You look like shit.”
“I feel like shit,” he said.
To his surprise, she leaned over, grasping his cheeks lightly. She kissed his forehead, then whispered in his ear. “I’m glad to see you.” It was the most affection she’d ever shown him.
“I believe I owe you new clothing,” he said. She grinned in response. Zayir stood and gestured to the stool. Without protesting, Azeria sat down and leaned against his bed. “Are you well?”
“I’ll be fine,” she said. Beneath the loose dress, her right arm and chest were heavily bandaged. Her face was scratched, but she looked healthy. “We did it.”
“Zayir, have you met Azeria?” he said. “This is my partner.”
“We’ve met,” Azeria said. They exchanged a contentious look, and he had to wonder about the battle of wills that had transpired. “We took bets on how soon you would wake and insist on getting out of bed.”
“Who won?” he asked.
“We don’t know yet,” Zayir said. “And telling you would alter the conditions. But just to be safe, you should rest at least another day.”
After dozing for a few more hours, Kaldir woke to the cold prickling of a familiar aura. When he opened his eyes, Velati stood at the end of his bed. It was becoming all too common to wake up with someone staring at him. The other man had seen better days, with bruises on his face. Thick bandages were wrapped around his chest, peeking from beneath the black uniform. He smiled faintly. “Glad to see you’re still with us.”
Kaldir yawned. “I’m not sure I am yet,” he admitted. “Have you seen Sohaila?”
“Not since yesterday,” he said. “I’ve been in the city most of the day. It’s a mess.”
“How is Marlena?” he asked.
He looked grim. “I don’t know. She’s still out,” he said. “Sohaila says it’s because she went right from her first shift into a fucking war, and that she should be fine in a few days. But it worries me.” He sighed and approached. “May I sit for a moment?”
“I’m not in a position to protest,” Kaldir said.
Velati chuckled. “I suppose not.” Sitting down on the low stool, he stared down at the ground for a long stretch before meeting Kaldir’s gaze. “I owe you an apology.”
“For what?”
“Somehow, Sohaila convinced Virnan to come to the city before they were supposed to. I’m glad she did, because Marlena wouldn’t have made it back to the outpost. But her injuries were much worse than either of us anticipated. Lotheraos got taken out fast, and then some of our people got confused. They couldn’t tell that she was one of us, so I had to try to fend them off without killing them.” He shook his head. “Sohaila nearly drained herself just bringing Marlena back. And then she got her hands on you, and I knew she was going to use everything she had left if I didn’t stop her. So I did.”
Please come back to me, he heard in the back of his mind.
“What are you apologizing for?” he asked.
“For making that decision. You were b
leeding out, and I knew you might not last until someone else arrived,” he said. “I gambled with your life.”
“Why did you make that decision?”
“Because I didn’t want her to die,” Velati said. Though his brow was furrowed in concern, he kept his unwavering gaze on Kaldir. “And I didn’t want you to carry the burden of her life for yours. I knew I couldn’t live with it.”
Kaldir scoffed. “I would have been angry if you hadn’t stopped her. No apology is needed. You have my thanks for protecting her when I couldn’t.”
“We are far too much alike,” Velati said, a faint smile on his face.
“I imagine she wasn’t happy about it,” Kaldir said.
The older man laughed and leaned in, tracing one finger under his left eye. Greenish bruising ringed his pale blue eye. “No, she certainly was not. This is her handiwork.”
Kaldir shook his head. “I’m sorry.”
“No apology needed,” Velati said, still smiling. There was a look of wonder in his eyes. “She really is something. The way she brought Marlena down and put her back together was nothing short of a miracle. She thinks she failed you because she couldn’t fix you right then, but Irazia says she kept you alive when you should have died. I don’t think she realizes how strong she really is.”
He smiled faintly. “She is special.”
It has been many years since one of my chosen burned so bright.
The thought of the beautiful woman struck him again. Had he really seen…it couldn’t be. It had to have been a dream, his mind’s feverish ramblings. “How fares the city?” Kaldir asked.
“We’re still finding stragglers. And they had more Elegies stashed around the city, with contingency plans if the Aesdar fell. A few explosions knocked down more buildings just yesterday. But we had fewer casualties than I feared. I’ve sent several scouting parties out to determine if there’s anything else headed our way.” He sighed. “I’m hesitant to say so, but I think the worst of it is over. We’ve kept Sidran in chains. When she awakens, Marlena can question him, but I’m content to let him rot in the dark for a while first.”