by L J Andrews
I stared at Raffi who clutched the sword of the lead warrior with a sense of pride. Though the situation should have brought me pain and anguish, in this moment I smiled, embracing the warm feeling surging through my body. This was the next move. I felt it deep inside; finding the lost wyvern warriors was the answer—to many things I would soon come to know.
Chapter 16
Mitch carried the back pack filled to the brim with food, knives, rope, more weapons, anything we thought we might need on the search for Thane and the wyvern warriors. One full day had come and gone without Jade. My heart ached, and there were moments when I was physically ill at her absence.
“You really are desperate to get her back?” Athika asked on the front porch of the mansion where we checked our provisions one final time.
“Yes,” I breathed out, zipping the main pocket of the back pack closed. “Why do you sound so surprised? Wouldn’t you do the same for Ruby?”
She shrugged. “Ruby wouldn’t join the lindworms.” Athika paused when I swallowed the ball of rage down my throat that seemed lined with nails. “Look, I’m just worried when you find her it might not be the same. If the prince wanted her as his mate, odds are they are already united.”
“You know what Athika, I don’t know where the issue with my bond with Jade comes from, but I really don’t care what sort of union or mate set-up that prince has. I’m not going to let Jade sacrifice her life to protect mine. She wouldn’t stop trying to find me if the roles were reversed, so if you have any issue with what I’m doing, then maybe you should stay with Ruby.”
Athika bit her bottom lip and stepped to my side. Her hand rested on my forearm, the crimson color of her armor clashing with my gilded green. “I’m sorry. I just am trying to look out for you too. I won’t say anything else about the prince.”
“Alright then,” I muttered quickly. My blades were sheathed and Mitch took the backpack from my hands.
“We have everything?” he asked.
I offered a quick nod, looking to Raffi where he was waiting on the lawn. “Are you sure you can carry all of us?”
Raffi scoffed, tying his hair back off his neck. “You three are puny, hardly making up a full-grown wyvern man.”
I chuckled, though it didn’t have much life. In fact, the more time that passed, the more dead inside I felt. Eisha wrapped her arms around my neck, tight like Aunt Liz had done numerous times in my life. “Teagan, you will be safe. Find the warriors, and the moment you do you promise you will send for us?”
“We will,” I said. “Look after the royals for us?” I added with a whisper
Eisha’s gaze drifted to the lawn where Ruby, Onyx, Sapphire, and Peran waited to bid us farewell. Each one already in their true form, with their brilliant wings folded over their backs. Dash remained in his human form muttering different strategies, and plans with Raffi. “Konrad isn’t pleased with the arrangement,” Eisha relayed.
“Onyx is right,” I began. “They will be safer with Onyx’s mage and with Dash than staying here. With Athika and me both leaving I think having a bloodline mage around is the wisest choice, and with you and Dash I feel the rest of the royals will be safe.”
“I just hope it remains true that Bron hasn’t found Onyx’s home. No where else seems safe from his eye,” Eisha said softly.
“Eisha, I believe Jade will do what she will from where she is to ensure your safety. But in case Bron or King Nag decides to act, I know you all are capable. I hope we won’t be away long.”
“I hope Thane will not oppose standing to fight with Jade,” Eisha whimpered. I didn’t see the fierce dragon crumble often. Eisha was impressive with her resolve, but it seemed since Jade was taken she was having more difficulty keeping her emotions hidden.
“You think he won’t agree to fight?” I asked. It was an option I’d never considered.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “It has been many years since I’ve seen him. He was always loyal, but joining with the lindworms might be enough to turn him and his armies away. Convince him, Teagan. Tell him Jade would never betray us.”
I scooped Eisha into a tight embrace and spoke low and confident. “I will. We’ll get her back, but remember Jade isn’t a damsel. I’m positive she has quite the cunning plan and will give that prince some hell.”
Eisha chuckled and quickly wiped her eye when she pulled away. “I’m sure you’re very right.”
“Teagan, let’s go,” Raffi groaned from the lawn.
Eisha stepped out onto the snow-frosted grass and shifted at my side. Sapphire shook his head and growled next to my face. I took that as a warning to be careful—it probably was a complaint that he wasn’t invited, but I liked the idea of him worrying about us more.
“Keep them safe, Dash,” I said.
“I will, by my honor,” Dash said with a fist over his heart in a salute before his dark skin peeled back into ebony scales.
Raffi huffed and split into his fiery form. With a snort of steam he shook his enormous skull at the three of us who would join him. I took the front, Athika slid behind me, with Mitch clamoring up the back of Raffi’s curved spine. I glanced once behind me. Onyx bowed his dark head before shooting toward the gray sky. The others followed, and all I could do was pray the final three royals would make it to safety before anyone else I cared about was harmed.
Raffi tromped around the edge of the forest an hour outside of Wyvern Willows. His chest was bare, but the cold of the fading day didn’t seem to bother him in the least. He slashed the warrior blade in the air across his chest, inspecting the cutting edge, the hilt, anything that might signal how to use the blade to find the elusive Thane.
“What exactly did Thane tell you?” Athika sighed.
Raffi looked at her with a narrowed glare. “As I said, he told me should I ever need him, the blade would help me find him.”
Mitch sighed, flopping back on the frozen ground. “Why can’t people just say things straight? That’s what I want to know. What’s with the hidden meanings? Just say, ‘Raffi, this is how you use the sword to find me’ that’s all it would have taken.”
“That isn’t the way of the warrior,” Raffi grumbled, though I could sense part of him wished he knew more about the power in the sword. “We are to use out intellect, our wits as well as our strength. Telling me straight out would take away half the lesson.”
Raffi jabbed the sword into the ground and looked to the sun before joining us. I handed him a pack of salted jerky. He ripped it from my hands and gnawed on it like a wild beast.
“Are you able to keep flying?” I asked when the subtle steam of his frustration stopped billowing off his skin.
“Yes,” Raffi said sharply. “I will go all night if I must.”
“I don’t see the point in wasting your energy until we know what direction we’re going,” Athika huffed. “We could go for hundreds of miles in the wrong direction.”
“She’s right, Raffi,” I said reluctantly. “We really should get some bearings before we keep going.”
Raffi leaned against a thick maple trunk and finished the last of the jerky. “Fine. Let me think for a moment. Thane wouldn’t have said to use the blade if there wasn’t some way to use it.”
I nodded leaning my head against my hands. Athika and Mitch joined in too. We four rested in silence for a time, each considering a way the sword could be used.
“What if it like starts on fire when your close, and gets cold when your far away—you know, like hot and cold,” Mitch suggested.
Raffi actually laughed. “Mitch, you’re stupid sometimes, but I’m glad you’re here.”
Mitch crossed his arms and pouted. “Well, why don’t you guys come up with a better idea.”
Raffi yawned, I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen the warrior dragon look fatigued in the least. The sun was fading and the spot in the forest where we’d taken refuge was dimming with shadows of the night.
“Raf, I think you should rest before we keep going,” I said.<
br />
“I’m fine,” he snapped.
“Answer me honestly, does the idea of carrying us into nowhere sound like something you feel you can do right now?”
“I’m a warrior,” Raffi growled. “We do things past our limits all the time.”
“Yes, but we don’t know where we’re going still,” Athika offered with a chip in her voice. “Take the time to rest. We’ll keep watch while you and Mitch sleep. Then we’ll trade and you two can brainstorm about the sword.”
I glanced at Raffi with a raised brow. He snarled and turned his back to us. “Fine. But you wake me after a few hours. That’s all. I’m not keen on sleeping while Jade is in the clutches of the lindworms.”
“Yeah sure,” Athika muttered. “Hey before you fall asleep why not be useful and start a fire.”
Raffi glared at my fellow mage, but didn’t argue. In a swift shift, he towered over us and blew a warm, pleasant stream of flames into a pit we’d dug until a roaring fire blazed in the twilight.
Mitch chuckled when Raffi stomped off in his wyvern form and flopped onto the ground as if letting us know he was frustrated that we’d been right about the respite time. Mitch pulled a blanket from the backpack and curled next to the fire while Athika and I took our places around our camp to stand watch.
Silence was all I wanted, and for over an hour I got my wish. The stars were in the black sky when Athika finally spoke. “How are you today? You don’t seem as torn as you were yesterday,” she whispered.
“I’m worried and torn, but more determined today,” I said, taking one of the blades out of its sheath—just to hold—it helped me feel safer.
“Teagan, I feel like there is tension between us,” Athika admitted.
I sighed. This conversation was the last thing I wanted to have. “There is some tension,” I said carefully. “Athika, you aren’t exactly accepting of the idea that I’m bonded with Jade.”
“I understand bonding, Teagan. Did you know Ruby and I have a destined bond as well? We knew we would be protection companions before I earned my armor. So, I do understand how deep emotions and friendship can go.”
I chuckled darkly, my grip tightening on the hilt of the blade. “But you don’t accept that I love, Jade—more than friendship I mean.”
Athika scooted closer so I could feel the warmth of her skin. She shook her head slightly. “I’m sorry, Teagan. It’s just something that hasn’t ever happened. I think Jade is a unique royal, she wants a romantic connection—wyverns aren’t known for love. You have a destined bond, so yes I believe feelings got muddled. I don’t blame you, I don’t blame Jade. Both of you didn’t even know the other existed anymore when you met. It must have been pretty shocking and powerful.”
I rubbed the ache in my chest, and listened as she spoke, but with every word the muscles in my neck tensed. “I understand how it might seem to you, really.” And I did. I understood everyone’s aversion to our relationship. “But I also know exactly how I feel. I don’t know how else to say it, other than I love Jade. I feel all the mage connections, they’re different than the other things I feel with her.”
Athika nodded and hugged her knees against her chest. “Teagan you are the High Priest, that means I am loyal to you. But you should know,” I sucked in a breath when her voice softened and she leaned just slightly closer to me. “I think more of you than you might know. Mage relationships, marriages, families are bonded with love—true love. We are both powerful, and have aspirations that are of one mind. We want what’s best for the royals, but also for the mage. I think…I think we would do well together.”
Athika’s face was close to mine, and I was overwhelmed with her energy. I felt her sincerity, her loyalty, but it crushed over my body with only thoughts of Jade. I shook my head and rose to my feet. “I’m sorry, Athika. I trust you, and would risk my life to defend yours as a mage. I just have to be clear, nothing could ever take me away from Jade. Not the lindworms, not a prince, not even a mage I respect like you.”
She sighed, but my answer seemed to be expected. “I know, Teagan. I know that’s how you feel. I just hope you won’t turn away from the possibility this bond is simply because it was your first introduction to our world. Don’t rule out other, good, accepted options.”
Raffi’s grumbling voice sent me backing away from Athika by an extra few steps. The warrior had shifted back into his human form and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “My turn,” he muttered, nudging Mitch’s back with his toe. “Wake up. You want to be here, you need to keep watch.”
Mitch stirred and glared at Raffi, but tugged the blanket around his shoulder and stood. Raffi was already stalking the sword by the time Mitch stumbled to the edge of the camp. I met Athika’s eye briefly, before settling by the fire. I hadn’t realized until I rested my head against the back pack how exhausted I was. Soon, sleep found me and I was lost in images of lindworms, Bron, and Jade’s emerald eyes.
“I figured it out!”
I leapt to my feet at the shrill cry. Raffi’s head snapped to attention from where he sat on a fallen log. Athika was gripping a knife, her hair tousled around her face as we all looked toward Mitch. He stood by the sword still stabbed deep into the soil. The sun was shining high in the sky and I was irritated they’d let me sleep so long.
“What do you mean you figured it out?” Raffi gasped, lowering to one knee and gently dragging his finger across the smooth steel.
“Look,” Mitch gasped pointing at the sword. He rolled his eyes and adjusted his finger toward the shadow. “The shadow. I’ve been watching it for at least two hours, and it hasn’t adjusted in the least. It’s stayed pointing in that direction since the sun rose. Never shifting, never changing. It’s noon now, and look where the shadow is.”
Raffi inspected Mitch’s claims. When he smiled, I realized it to. A dark shadow sprawled along the snow, where it should be small and direct at this time of day. “Let’s try it somewhere else,” Raffi breathed. He tore the blade from the snow and rushed to the opposite side of the fire. Stabbing the blade in the ground, the shadow remained the same—only more stretched now from the distance. Raffi beamed. “You’re right. I can’t believe it, but you’re right.”
Mitch smiled smugly. “So, what lesson did you learn from Thane’s riddle, warrior Raffi?”
“That sunlight and shadows can lead the way,” Raffi growled.
Mitch shook his finger, the grin only spreading more as he trudged toward the back pack. “Nope, I don’t think that’s it. I think what you’ve learned is the human is quite brilliant.”
“It’s true Raffi, that might be the lesson Thane wanted you to learn,” I laughed. “Let’s go.”
It took us a total of six minutes to clean up our supplies and burst into the sky atop Raffi’s back. Mitch took the honor of holding the sword straight with the sun beaming along Raffi’s scales. Occasionally, the shadow would drift throughout the day, putting us on a new course. When the moon rose high into the sky, we were disappointed to know we were lost again. Reluctantly, Raffi lowered to the ground and we set up a camp.
“Where are we?” Athika asked.
I took in the trees, but Mitch pulled out a cell phone. “You didn’t bring one?” he asked with a glance at me.
I chuckled. “I haven’t had one of those since Sapphire took mine—and no, finding dragon warriors didn’t bring a cell phone to my mind.”
Mitch smirked. “Oh, I stole mine back the first week I got to the house. I don’t have much of a signal, but last I checked we were only a few miles from the Canadian border.”
I nodded. “The shadow keeps pointing us north, too. Raffi, it’s going to get pretty cold if we stay on this route, are you going to be okay?”
“I’m fine, I’ve fought in cold areas before,” he muttered, closing his eyes. “You take the first watch again. I’m sleeping after an entire day of carrying you wingless creatures.”
Somehow taking the night watch wasn’t so draining this night as it was yesterday. We
had direction and hope, for all that had happened, I couldn’t hope for more just yet.
The next morning the shadow of the blade took us miles over the border. Raffi’s back was coated in a sheen of frost and I felt his enormous wings shudder in cold the longer we stayed in the sky. Athika, Mitch, and I were bundled from head to toe in thick coats, but it still didn’t keep the bite of the wind off our skin.
“Raffi!” Mitch shouted. “The shadow, it’s gone. Like there is no shadow at all.”
Raffi grunted and dove without warning toward the frosty earth. We leapt from his back instantly, and waited for a moment for him to shift. Raffi’s usually burning skin was tinted blue. His lips were purple, but he moved swiftly to take the sword from Mitch.
“Take this,” I insisted, wrapping his shoulders with a fleece blanket. “It’ll do us no good if you freeze because you think you’re a macho man.” I chuckled and shoved his shoulder when he breathed a sigh of relief and the warmth.
Raffi staked the sword into the ground. Mitch was right, despite the overcast sky, there was not even the slightest hint of a shadow from the blade. It was one of the more stranger sights I’d seen, but no matter how we shifted the blade the shadow was lost.
I thought Raffi would rage, but instead he beamed, and sheathed the blade on his waist. “We’ve found them.”
Chapter 17
“What? I don’t see anyone up here,” Athika shuddered, clutching her thin body in the bulky coat.
Here, meant a cliff. A snowy, mountainside that was jagged and reminded me of an arctic glacier were it not for the few sparse trees and gray stones jutting from the snow. Nothing in the form of human or wyvern life seemed to exist for miles, but Raffi looked up the cliff.
“I thought I sensed them, but I was so cold I wasn’t sure. They’re here,” he whispered, crouching low and climbing over a boulder-enforced ridge.