Ferhdessar felt euphoric. It took a while before he realized that he was partly sharing Lilith’s emotions. He had an overwhelming feeling of power, a sense that nobody was stronger than the two of them together.
“Get them, Lilith!”
The dragon slammed the water with such force that the servi came floating to the surface. Lilith grabbed hold of the creatures and crushed them with her claws. Feelings of rage and intense happiness took turns. Ferhdessar felt as one with Lilith. He gave her orders and she immediately carried them out. This was fantastic.
He praised the dragon, which apparently only encouraged her to fight even more violently. The scent of sulphur entered Ferhdessar’s nostrils. This was characteristic of Lilith during her fits of anger. Shaking her head furiously, she was throwing flames everywhere. Not all the people watching on the beach ducked away on time. Some jumped into the water to extinguish the flames, others screamed and moved around wildly until the fire silenced them. Several houses went up in flames as well. The people tried to extinguish the fire with buckets of water, but to no avail. Lilith shook her head again.
“Whoa, Lilith. Easy!”
She restrained herself.
Meanwhile, the Muircadhi were carrying out counterattacks. They drove their claws into Lilith’s legs. The dragon roared and lashed out at them. Ferhdessar launched some fireballs to help her. A Muircadh was trying to climb up along her belly. Blood, diluted with water, streamed from the wounds he left behind. Lilith clawed at him, but he tore open the flesh between her thumb and index finger with his six-inch nails. Lilith howled, but then she pulled him off her with her other claw. She slowly squeezed the life out of him. Dark blood dripped through her fingers. After she had dropped the body, she moved her claw through the water to rinse off the blood and briefly stroked her belly.
The rage that Lilith passed on to Ferhdessar was sickening. The dragon reared on her hind legs and subsequently landed her front paws on the servi with such force that the water spurted up in the air. Ferhdessar grabbed hold of her spikes to keep from sliding off her back. He tried to restrain her again.
“Easy, Lilith. A bit less power is more than enough to eliminate the servi.”
Lilith calmed down somewhat but she wasn’t any less destructive. There wasn’t much left of the euphoric feeling. All she felt now was coldness. Lilith was fighting because she was trained to do so. There was an indifferent void inside her, and therefore also inside Ferhdessar.
At long last, the servi realized that they couldn’t win against Lilith, so they fled. Ferhdessar received the cheers of the people of Havv’n with a proud smile. This was his accomplishment.
As he made Lilith fly up again, a protracted trumpet-call sounded across the town. The beam of the lighthouse passed over the hills, illuminating hundreds of soldiers. Almost at the same time, Ferhdessar’s attention was drawn by something else. Farther to the north he saw a red flash of light. It had been visible only briefly, but Ferhdessar knew that he hadn’t been imagining things. Mist immediately started to rise from the water. It was a signal! Kasimirh had realized that it was useless to keep fighting and he was ordering the servi to retreat.
Ferhdessar ordered Lilith to fly faster. He was peering into the darkness, but the mist was spreading so fast that pretty soon Ferhdessar couldn’t see anything any more. Even his lightballs weren’t of any help, so there was nothing for it but to return to the town. He wasn’t worried; he would deal with Kasimirh tomorrow.
Ferhdessar made Lilith land on top of the debris of the ruined lighthouse and then he made them some light. He tried to dress her wounds as well as he could. The dragon moaned when he applied ointments on them, and she threateningly moved her head towards him. He tried to put her at ease.
“Calm down, Lilith. I don’t want to hurt you, but I have to do this. It’s for your own good.”
The dragon sniffed at the stuff that he was rubbing on her stomach. Then she averted her head. Ferhdessar saw that her lips were stretched tight against her teeth because she was fighting off the pain. He caressed her paw. “I’m almost done.”
A little while later, Ferhdessar gave her the order to stay vigilant and he went to sit down next to her. He pulled some food out of his bag and took a bite. Then he realized that Lilith had gone without food even longer than he had, so he started to feed her pieces of meat. Lilith kept pushing Ferhdessar’s hand with her lips.
“I’m sorry, Lilith, there’s nothing left.”
He showed her his empty hands. She gave him a look of indignation. He suddenly realized that she was looking him over to see if he would make a nice meal.
“Watch the sea!”
Lilith immediately sat up straight. Ferhdessar lay down contentedly. He didn’t have to fear the dragon because she did exactly what he told her. He slowly drifted off.
Every time that the dragon growled, however, he was roused from his sleep. Ferhdessar suspected that she was responding to servi swimming by without showing themselves, so he dozed off again.
He suddenly jolted awake, because Lilith had started hissing angrily.
“Who could have thought that a sorcerer like you would manage to catch a dragon,” Afifa said as she rubbed Lilith’s scales with her hand.
The dragon wanted to attack, but Ferhdessar stopped her. So Lilith went back to staring into the dark.
Ferhdessar would never get used to the contempt that the other sorcerers felt for him, but that wasn’t the only reason why he suddenly felt ill at ease. Afifa was a stunningly beautiful woman. She was wearing a wide, green dress, but with every movement the red ribbons on the pleats became visible. The woman had plaited her long hair, and her green eyes were void of emotions.
The fact that the staff that Afifa was carrying was a powerful weapon, added to Ferhdessar’s discomfort. The stone that she had been given at birth was attached to the top of the staff. And on top of the stone there was a long spearhead that was gleaming dangerously. She looked ready to use it.
“She was very useful during the battle,” Afifa continued.
“Nevertheless, without your help it would all have been in vain,” Ferhdessar answered. “The servi had already breached the gate.”
Afifa smiled confidently. She glanced at Lilith again and sat down next to Ferhdessar. The dragon didn’t respond and continued doing what she had been told.
“Where did you get this dragon?”
Ferhdessar explained who Lilith was.
“So she doesn’t know anything about what happened today?” Afifa asked when he had told her about the soul box.
“There was no time to confer, but this is what she would have wanted.”
“I doubt that.”
Afifa grabbed her spear and jumped up. Anukasan appeared from behind Lilith. The dragon brought her head down to him and closed her eyes in satisfaction when he caressed her jaw. “It hurts me to see her like this,” he said in a tone of reproach.
“This is for her own good. You have no idea what happened during our journey. I would never have done this if it hadn’t been necessary.”
“Her own good? If she ever finds out about this, it’ll destroy her.”
“Kasimirh will destroy her when she meets him face to face. She assured me that she wants to fight him, but she can’t do it on her own. I know what I’m talking about. She’ll hesitate, and that will give him enough time to kill her. Unless I’m with her to guide her.”
“Does that logic truly ease your conscience? Does it help you sleep at night?”
“This was the only solution that was right for Merzia and for Lilith! It won’t be long before we find Kasimirh. Once he’s dead, I’ll reunite her body and soul.”
Anukasan shook his head in disapproval. Afifa had been observing them from a distance, but now she asked, “Who is this Kasimirh you’re talking about?”
“I had hoped you could tell me more about him,” Ferhdessar answered. “He’s a sorcerer as well.”
“I’ve never heard of him.”
Ferhdessar gave her a brief update of what he knew. Afifa listened attentively. Anukasan was sitting a bit farther away. His entire posture showed that he didn’t agree with Ferhdessar’s choices.
The next morning, Ferhdessar climbed back on the dragon’s shoulders. He vowed that – should he ever get another chance to fly with her after today – he would first make a saddle. His backside was bruised all over.
Ferhdessar let Lilith skim over the water again. The sun was just rising above the cliffs to the right and shone on the trees on the other side of the bay. Below him, Ferhdessar saw dolphins, who followed them for a little while. Some of the dolphins jumped out of the clearblue water before the entire school disappeared far below the surface.
There were several little islands in the bay, but Ferhdessar didn’t find what he was looking for on any of them. But then he discovered a rock a bit farther away from the town. After Ferhdessar had lowered himself down from Lilith’s shoulders, he immediately discovered the tracks that led him to the top of the rock. The ground had been cleared of its growth and someone had laid out stones in a magical pattern. Ferhdessar walked around a bit, took his notebook from his pouch and leafed through it. The symbol represented the power of water. There was no doubt in his mind that Kasimirh had orchestrated the attack from this rock.
Ferhdessar looked around warily. When he had reassured himself that the island was deserted, he went to stand in the middle of the pattern. He reread the words that he had written down in his notebook a long time ago, raised his hands and started to chant. This was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up, even though there was a good chance that he wouldn’t be able to control this magic.
When he had said the last word, the water started to accumulate around the island. The water rose slowly. Ferhdessar was no longer in control of the water, the magical forces he had summoned were now in control of him. Ferhdessar knew what was happening, but he couldn’t stop it. He didn’t even want to. He felt the power pulsating as it flowed through his veins with every heartbeat. It made each and every hair on his body stand on end. Ferhdessar had never felt this full of life.
In the meantime the water had reached his feet. He felt every drop that crawled up his leg. The cold water made him even more alert. He whooped with euphoria.
His yell was smothered by the water that had now reached his lips. Ferhdessar was beginning to realize that he had lost all control over the situation. He didn’t have the power to make this stop. He was going to drown.
Suddenly Lilith appeared above him. She swooped down, grabbed hold of him and slowly pulled him upwards, but the water didn’t seem to want to let him go. Long, blue tongues reached out, trying to pull him back down, knowing that they couldn’t exist without him. The water was feeding on Ferhdessar’s magic and it pulled him down even more forcefully, not wanting to let him go.
Suddenly the ties snapped. The water let go of Ferhdessar and streamed back into the sea. The pattern of stones was washed away.
Lilith landed in the spot where Ferhdessar had been standing moments before. Ferhdessar lay on the ground, exhausted. He was even more worried than before. Kasimirh’s magic was thousands of years old and was hardly ever used because it was so difficult to control. His experiment had made that abundantly clear. It showed him how powerful the prophet was.
At the same time, it explained why Kasimirh had retreated: the battle had been exhausting. Ferhdessar was surprised that the other sorcerer had been able to use the magic for such a long period of time. He himself had been worn out after only a few minutes. Or had it been longer? Ferhdessar looked at the position of the sun but he was too tired to calculate how much time the ritual had taken.
The dragon leaned forwards and shook her head. Then she very carefully breathed some hot air on him. Ferhdessar closed his eyes. It wasn’t long before he was dry again. He slowly sat up and remained seated for a while. His body felt heavy and painful. He tried to ignore it as he let his gaze travel across the water.
Ferhdessar was convinced that the prophet was still around. He might not have been able to conquer Havv’n, but Kasimirh had also said that he still had a score to settle with Ferhdessar. He had sounded rather determined and Ferhdessar didn’t think he would have changed his mind. Kasimirh had found himself a place to regain his strength and would surely return. For Lilith, but also for Ferhdessar.
Holding on to Lilith, he got to his feet. He patted the dragon on her neck.
“Thank you, Lilith, for saving me.”
There was nothing else to discover here, so Ferhdessar climbed back onto Lilith’s shoulders. He let her explore the surrounding area, but all the places where Kasimirh could have retreated to with the servi were deserted. Ferhdessar decided to return to Havv’n. There were many caves in the cliffs, but it would take too much time to search all of them on his own.
He made the dragon change at a clearing in the woods. Ferhdessar took the cord from his neck and put the open soul box on the ground in front of Lilith. He nervously watched how her eyes started to glow again and how her cheeks regained some colour.
Confused, Lilith looked around. “What happened?”
Ferhdessar heaved a sigh of relief. Lilith had been completely oblivious to what had happened during the battle.
“We’ve arrived at Havv’n. Can’t you remember the last part of our journey?”
Lilith shook her head. “I only remember that everything went dark and an emptiness enveloped me.” Then her eye fell on the little box. She picked it up and handed it to Ferhdessar, smiling. “You’ve kept your word.”
He decided not to respond.
Lilith stretched herself and rubbed her stomach. Her expression grew worried when she discovered the wound on her hand. She gave Ferhdessar a questioning look. “How did this happen?”
He came closer and studied the wound. The flesh between her thumb and index finger was lacerated, just like her dragon claw. While bandaging her hand, he was looking for an explanation. “Maybe you hurt yourself when Kasimirh made you change. Maybe you got caught on a branch or something.”
“But I hadn’t noticed it before,” Lilith protested.
Ferhdessar put a hand on her shoulder. “You had other things on your mind.”
Lilith nodded and accepted his explanation. Ferhdessar took out his notebook. As he opened it he asked, “So you don’t remember anything of what happened while you were in the box?”
She shook her head and Ferhdessar wrote her answer down.
“How are you feeling now?”
“Tired and stiff. My muscles are hurting, especially the ones in my arms.”
“Could that be because you have flown such a long distance?”
“What’s with the interrogation? But no, I’ve flown long distances often enough and my muscles never really bothered me before.”
“I just want to know how the box works and what it does to you.”
“Apparently it drains your energy.”
“It’s only logical that it has some side effects.”
Nevertheless, Ferhdessar would sooner ascribe her complaints to the fight than to the box. He wrote down that the box probably didn’t have any unintended effects on the subject, but that further research was required.
At that moment, general Kiril appeared from the woods with Afifa and Anukasan in his wake. Before the eagle man could say anything to Lilith, Ferhdessar took him aside. “Could you fly around to see whether Kasimirh is still in the neighbourhood? Take the other bird shifters with you and search each and every cave. It’s important.”
“So you haven’t found him yet?” Anukasan sneered.
“Unfortunately not, but he should still be around.”
“And Lilith? Does she know what you did?”
Ferhdessar shook his head.
“If she finds out…” Anukasan sighed. “You’re driving her straight back into his arms, I’ve told you this before.”
“Well, that only makes it even more important for her to remain i
gnorant. At least until we’ve defeated Kasimirh. Once that’s over and done with, I’ll tell her.”
Anukasan hesitated. He glanced at Lilith.
“This is an order, Anukasan.”
The man gave him a scornful look. “Is this how we’re going to treat each other from now on?”
“This is a military issue. I outrank you, so you have to follow my orders.”
Grudgingly, Anukasan agreed. Then he walked up to Lilith. “Have you been able to cope with everything that’s happened?” he asked her after he had greeted her.
Lilith shrugged. “When I think about what happened to my parents, it still hurts. But pain isn’t the only emotion, I also feel guilt and loneliness. I’d rather suppress all these emotions by focussing on what I can do here.”
“I have to go now, but come find me if you ever want to talk.”
She nodded gratefully.
Anukasan turned to face Kiril. With his hand on his heart he made a small bow. Then he addressed Ferhdessar.
“Kasimirh won’t be able to hide much longer, lord Ferhdessar. I will succeed in finding him.” He went down on his knee and kissed Ferhdessar’s ring with a look of derision on his face.
Ferhdessar pulled his hand back. He wanted to tell Anukasan to act normal, but that was impossible now that he had pulled rank. By kneeling, however, the eagle man had undermined his authority. Only the king was honoured in this way. Anukasan was testing him to see if Ferhdessar would punish him as his superior. The sorcerer shook his head.
Anukasan rose to his feet with a sly smile and flew away.
Ferhdessar now introduced Lilith to Kiril and Afifa. They regarded her with interest, but to Ferhdessar’s great relief, they didn’t say anything.
“It was a fierce battle last night,” the general began. “Fortunately, the enemy is gone now. The dr…”
“Yes, the troops chased them off. They arrived just in time,” Ferhdessar cut him short.
Afifa glanced at Lilith again and went to walk next to Ferhdessar. She leaned in and whispered, “I thought you were convinced that she would agree with your actions? So why do you go to all this trouble to hide the truth from her?”
The Lilith Trilogy Box Set Page 25