Imdalind Ruby Collection One: Kiss of Fire | Eyes of Ember | Scorched Treachery

by Ethington, Rebecca

  He paused, and I took another drink, worried he would stop if I didn’t. Even though some of this I already knew, I had the distinct impression that this was how Dramin operated, from the beginning.

  “In his loneliness, Sain went to the mud and begged for companionship. He cried into the well and from a slice in his finger, added two drops of blood. The well blessed the world with another Drak, but still Sain’s soul did not sing. He took me from the mud, named me, and raised me as he would a son.”

  “You?” Okay, so that would be why he looked familiar.

  “Yes, so you see. I am your uncle.” He smiled brightly, and I almost choked on the dark liquid.

  “Wouldn’t that make you my brother?”

  “I am a bit old to be your brother, child,” he said with a smirk.

  “And Sain is a little too old to be my father,” I replied with a grin. Dramin chuckled and rested against the back of his chair, his feet lifting onto a large ottoman.

  “Touché.”

  I ignored him and took another drink of whatever he had given me. It was delightfully warming, and oddly enough, the smell was growing on me.

  “So, if he was all alone, how did he end up with Ovailia?” I cringed at my words. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. This was possibly the largest piece of my past—of my father’s past—that I still couldn’t quite make myself believe.

  “Sain wasn’t alone. He wasn’t complete, but he wasn’t alone. He thrived as the head of the Drak, the race surviving through my progeny. It wasn’t until the day Ovailia was born—when he went to visit the newborn daughter of the King—that his soul finally sang. He held that child in his arms, and before the day had ended, was telling everyone that he had found his mate; that he would bond himself to her when the time was right. Ovailia resisted him at first, but after sixty years she finally consented to a bonding. Everyone was so happy for Sain—for both of them—but after the bonding, something changed. No one was sure what until the day that Ovailia betrayed him.”

  “Betrayed him?” I said, “But, I thought...” My voice faded off as Dramin shook his head, his eyes looking sadly away from me.

  “That Edmund almost tortured him to death? That Ovailia made a pact with her father in an attempt to save him? It is all true, but her betrayal began before that.

  “She delivered what little she knew about Sain’s sight about you to her father. When Edmund heard it, he demanded to know who had spoken it. However Ovailia only knew that a girl would be born who could defeat an opposing power, nothing more. She didn’t know when, she didn’t even know who the opposing power was. Edmund needed the seeing Drak, so he could glean more information, and Ovailia eagerly sacrificed her mate for what she believed to be a greater good. It wasn’t until Edmund began to torture him that she began to second guess her decision.”

  “It was too late.” A deep, gruff voice spoke up from across the large space.

  I looked up as Thom joined us, his long dreads swinging as he sat across the fire from me on a large, brown couch. I wouldn’t have even recognized him as the same man if it hadn’t been for the dreads. He was short and stocky, and his brown dreads looked out of place with his clean-shaven, boyish face. He swung his mukluk covered feet onto the couch and looked away from me, closing his eyes.

  I looked toward the bunk where Ilyan had been laid, his body still with only his head visible from underneath the large amount of furs. I went to move, but one grunt from Thom stopped my progression.

  “He’s fine. You can go fawn over him after your feet are better.” I turned hastily toward Thom, my forehead furrowed in a scowl.

  “I wasn’t going to fawn over him,” I said a little too acidly; Thom only snorted at me.

  “You sure she doesn’t know, Dramin?” Thom asked, his eyes still closed.

  “I’m sure.” Dramin smiled and refilled his mug with a wave of his hand. “Now, where were we? Oh, yes, Ovailia broke the bond.”

  “How could they survive?” I asked the question more to myself than to him. I still remembered the pain, the way my body had attempted to rot from inside out after my bond with Ryland had been cracked. It still protested every time I stayed away from the Tȍuha for too long.

  “It is the one who breaks the bond that walks away unscathed while the one who is broken will suffer and die. It was Sain who suffered to the point that he appeared dead. Ovailia was unscathed because she broke the bond and because she no longer loved him.”

  I looked down into my glass, hurting for Sain. Or, I guess, my father. It was weird to think of him that way, especially considering Ovailia was involved. I exhaled and drank deeply. At least my mother had loved him until the day she had been killed.

  “In his anger Edmund massacred all of my posterity; my sons and daughters, thousands of my grandchildren and beyond, all murdered. All while Edmund kept Sain imprisoned, hidden from Ovailia, trying to glean more information about the sight. Sain never gave it to him no matter how much he was tortured, though. They never found out more than what Ovailia had told them. Which is why they never identified you until Ryland found your mark. For centuries Edmund used Sain’s abilities for his profit. He kept him under a Vymȁzat so strict that, while it never completed, it was enough to keep control over him. He wouldn’t let him near the Black Water that the Drak rely on, and so he weakened further.” Dramin spoke quietly and I could tell how much he was affected by what he was saying. He closed his eyes and leaned back against the chair, his hands still grasping his mug.

  “For centuries he was only given an opportunity to drink the Black Water when Edmund needed the use of his sight. He was as weak as a human, his ability becoming so reliant on the Black Water that he could no longer control the visions or interpret what he would see, so Edmund learned to do all that for him. Sain’s body slowly learned to rely more on human food than his own resources. In many ways, the Drak in him died.” Dramin spoke into his mug, his knuckles white against the pottery. I couldn’t help but feel sick to my stomach at this new bit of information.

  “How did he get out?” I asked quietly, my voice awed like I was being told a bedtime story and not the history of my father.

  “I got him out,” Thom said from across the fire, though his body did not deviate from its relaxed position. “I grabbed him, knocked my father unconscious, broke Timothy’s arm, and made a run for it. It took me quite some time to get any information out of Sain as to where we were supposed to go.”

  Thom scowled darkly and moved his hands behind his head, his eyes shifting to look at me.

  “Worst mistake of my life.” Thom said, “I should have left him there. Having to spend the next three hundred years in hiding, trying to get your best friend back from the mess your father had created of him, only to see him end up captured with no memory is not something I would like to repeat.”

  “Tell me about it.” For the first time I understood Thom’s grumbles. I had too many in the same predicament. Wyn, Talon, Ryland, and now Ilyan. The list just kept getting bigger. Dramin reached over and patted my leg like a comforting grandfather, the action awakening something in me as I forced back a smile.

  “So you were in hiding?” I asked, pushing myself out of my misery.

  “I’m still in hiding,” Thom grumbled, “My existence as well as Sain’s has to be kept as much of a secret as possible. If Ovailia found out about us, there is no telling what she would do, and while Ilyan has his suspicions, none of us want to find out what Edmund would do with us.”

  “How did Ilyan find you in the first place?” I asked, not wanting to dwell on all the negative that had happened in the past few hours.

  “We were in college, pretending to be seniors, and we were bored out of our minds. Then, one day, we saw him—Cail.” I visibly froze, the malice in Thom’s voice matching my own. He turned toward me, eyes narrowing a bit. “I hid Sain with a human family and erased his memory in case he was found then pulled Cail off his trail. I was only able to return when I knew it was safe, which
was about ten years later, yet without a true memory of his past, he had married. I stayed nearby, but I couldn’t see any signs of magic from you, so I left. Content to give him a normal life and return when the time was right.”

  I wasn’t sure what to say. I ran through the story, the fact that my life had been a giant sham becoming more of an irritating reality. It was making me grumpy.

  “How did you know Edmund had found you simply because you saw Cail?” I asked.

  “When you see Cail, Edmund and Timothy are not far behind. Even if you don’t see them, they are always there.” Thom sat up all the way and leaned forward. His blue eyes shimmered in the firelight as he looked toward me. “When Cail was born, it was decided that Edmund needed a new bodyguard. So Edmund and Timothy both infused the infant with a Štít of their magic however Edmund also placed his there to give Cail power. You see, Edmund placed his Štít right inside Cail’s heart. From birth, Edmund’s wicked power has influenced him, and from birth, Cail has been taught how to use Edmund’s power as his own. All with the knowledge that if he steps one toe out of line, Edmund can kill him no matter where he is.”

  I gasped, my hand subconsciously moving to my shoulder where Ilyan’s weak tendrils still swirled within me.

  “Yes,” Thom nodded, “I know that Ilyan has done something similar to you.” I saw Dramin’s head spin toward me at Thom’s words, but I ignored it.

  “I will admit I was shocked when I was healing him and suddenly my energy moved across the room, but Ilyan’s Štít in you is different than what resides in Cail’s body. Ilyan has placed his there to protect you. Besides, I doubt you could use his magic to your benefit. Even trying to hold Ilyan’s magic inside of you would kill you.” Thom laughed as if he had told a great joke and lay back against the couch again. I let my eyes flow away from him to Ilyan’s still body, my heart rate speeding up.

  But I had held Ilyan’s magic. He had accidently pushed too much into me when placing the Štít, and I had survived. I was sure he had done it again when using the Stutter to get us here, too. How many things about me were going to prove to be ‘impossible’. I shook my head and looked away.

  “So Cail can use Edmund’s magic?” I asked before drinking the last of the liquid from my mug.

  “Yes,” Dramin answered, “although I don’t think he does very often. I am not sure he can without Edmund’s express permission.”

  I nodded, I knew exactly when Cail was using Edmund’s magic with his permission—every night when he haunted my dreams. I didn’t dare look over to Ilyan. I wished I could talk to him, tell him I had figured it out. Even though I am sure he already knew, I needed to tell him... needed someone to understand. I shook my head and looked up, cringing a bit to see Dramin staring at me.

  “Ummm...” I began before he could ask me anything, lifting the empty mug to make my intent clear. “Can I have some more?”

  “I’ll get it,” Thom grunted from the other side of the fire, as he lifted himself up to a sitting position.

  “Don’t bother,” Dramin said as he waved his hand, the mug filling with the dark brown fluid.

  I smiled appreciatively and took a big swallow, loving how it was energizing my body.

  “No,” Thom was suddenly snarling, his eyes bouncing from me to Dramin as he stood in front of the fire. He moved so quick I was sure we were being attacked, and foolishly prepared to use my mug as a weapon, completely forgetting I had magic.

  “What?”

  “You didn’t? Dramin!” No monster behind me, Thom was just raging at Dramin.

  “I did. You can imagine my own surprise when my sight showed me what would come if I did.” Dramin’s voice was calm against Thom’s outburst while I continued to look back and forth between them, my confusion growing.

  “You could have killed her, Dramin!” I jumped at Thom’s shout, my heart thumping.

  “I wouldn’t have done it if I hadn’t been shown that it was the right path, Thom. Besides, she just needed to be woken up,” Dramin said, still sipping on his own drink, completely unphased by Thom’s outburst. I felt like my skin was crawling. “At least now we know and can work with it.”

  “Know what?” I practically shouted, I was over being left out of this conversation.

  “He gave you some of the Black Water to drink,” Thom said through his teeth, finally turning to me. “Your father’s blood flows strongly in your veins. That should have killed you. Well, unless you are a Drak.”

  Eighty-Eight

  Joclyn

  “Wait, what? A Drak?” I looked between Thom’s panicked expression to Dramin’s gleeful grin. Thom seemed more likely to tell me the truth, so I turned on him.

  “You,” I said, finger pointing as I stood. “Tell me what he did.”

  Thom’s eyes narrowed at me as he grunted and sat back down on his couch.

  “The Black Water is the water that the Drak use to cultivate the magic of sight. It is their main food source, and essentially the very core of their power. The water can only be held in a mug made from the mud of the outer rim of the Wells of Imdalind. It’s why your father became so weak when Edmund kept it from him. If you keep the mugs away, you keep the Water away. The water is poison to any being other than the Drak. By giving it to you to drink, he could have very easily killed you.”

  “But I didn’t die, so what does that mean?”

  “You are one of The Chosen, correct?” Dramin asked before sipping from his cup.

  “Yes.” I nodded my head, waiting for him to continue. That in itself was a reason none of this made sense.

  “And you have a mark?” He smiled at me from behind his cup. I nodded at him. “Can I see it?”

  I looked at him for a moment before exhaling. I didn’t see any reason why I shouldn’t other than that I didn’t want to, and that wasn’t a very good reason. I closed my eyes before lifting my hair to reveal the small mark on my neck. Dramin exhaled sharply, which I wasn’t prepared for, but I still kept my eyes closed.

  “Look Thom, it’s a dragon. How interesting.” Dramin’s tone made it sound like it was far more than just interesting. It made my skin crawl.

  “What?” I dropped my hair and twisted back around. Thom was back to staring at me. “Does that mean something?”

  “Hmmm?” Dramin studied me and I got the same feeling as before, like he was looking inside of me. I shivered. “Not yet, I think.”

  “Oh no. You are going to tell me. I’m over this.” I leaned into him in what I thought was a threatening move. He just chuckled and drank from his own mug. I wasn’t going to give up so easy.

  “The important thing here, Silnỳ, is that you are in fact a Chosen, and yet you can hold the Black Water within your body.”

  “Which means...” I prompted him. Dramin smiled, Thom grunted from the other side of the fire, I guess I wasn’t going to get answers from him this time.

  “Which means that you not only have the powers that the Skȓítek and Trpaslíks carry—which were awakened within you when the Vilỳ kissed your skin—but also those of the Drak as well.” Dramin smiled like I was the most amazing thing in the world, but my stomach tied itself in knots.

  “So... I can, like, see the future?” I asked, the disbelief heavy in my voice.

  “Ohhh... You can do much more than that.” Dramin’s smile increased. Thom sat up again, swinging his legs to face us, the same disgruntled look on his face.

  “Just spit it out, old man,” Thom barked, obviously irritated. I was starting to think he was always irritated, I would be too with all the riddles and chuckling from Dramin.

  “Tell me, Silnỳ, what does the Black Water make you feel like? What does it do to your magic, your body, when you drink it?”

  I shifted my weight and took a drink from the mug in my hands. Both their eyes were on me as I swallowed the mouthful of Water.

  “It makes me feel warm, stronger somehow. My magic feels a little more alive, a little looser.” I looked up to find Dramin smiling mo
re, if that was possible. He may never not be smiling. “Is that good?” I asked, worried that I had said the wrong thing.

  “Oh, that’s very good.” Dramin stood and threw the heavy furs off of my lap. I sat there, staring at him, wishing I could put the blankets back on. My feet were now a normal color and I could feel all my extremities, but the cave was still cold.

  “Come along, Silnỳ. I want to try something.” Dramin pulled me up, carefully taking my mug from me as he did.

  Carrying my mug in front of him, he pulled me along behind him. Thankfully, my feet seemed to be working properly, and not falling off in giant icy chunks. Which I was actually worried about.

  “Where are we going?” I asked when I realized he was dragging me back toward the dark tunnel we had entered the cavern through. I looked back to Ilyan, nervous that I was being pulled away from him. The longing I felt scared me, though, so I shoved it away.

  “I want to try something,” Dramin repeated.

  “Yes, I heard that the first time. Have any more information for me?” I asked as he dragged me forward. I looked back to Thom in hopes of an answer but he was still standing near the fire, his arms folded.

  “I’ll stay here,” he called after us, smiling at my panic stricken face. “Someone’s got to watch over sleeping beauty.”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but Thom waved his farewell and turned to his bunk. Dramin dragged me not into the dark tunnel that led outside, but into another round cavern that was connected to the first.

  This one was not as nice nor as cozy as the room with the fire. In fact, it was bare. The large dome of the rock spread high above us, the stone void of paintings or dancing bits of reflection. It was only stone and a hundred blue, glittery orbs that Dramin had sent to the ceiling when we arrived in order to give us light.

  While bare, it was still impressive.

  “What is this place?” I turned to Dramin, surprised to find his smile faded.