“Trust me,” hissed Rakan, shifting Anna to their lair without waiting for an answer.
* * *
It took Anna a few moments to realize that they were standing in Rakan’s living room in the Tibetan House. Alone. Unharmed. Rakan was brushing her hair with his hands and murmuring something, but she was too panicked to understand what he was saying.
“Where are they?” she asked, clinging to Rakan.
“They can’t come through T’eng Sten’s shields. You’re safe.”
“Yes, but…” she began, but Rakan’s lips found hers. They were so warm, so soft, so full of life… she responded, needing to feel his energy. Fire burned through her. Rakan’s fire. His hand slid to her lower back, angling her into him as the fire continued to spread. “Fire,” she said into his neck. “Rakan. What does dzor mean?”
Rakan pulled back surprised. “Dzor? It means bird. Why?”
“So you’re a firebird?” Her hands wandered up his chest and over his face.
“My full name is Rakan’dzor Sa’aq. The Flowing Firebird of Aq.” Rakan leaned his head against hers, his hair enveloping them both. “I’ve never told anyone that before. You’re the first.” His lips brushed slowly against hers. He took the time to explore them before gently going deeper, stoking the already burning fire that threatened to explode from her aching body. “Let go,” she felt him say and she did. She dissolved into him. They melded and she had no idea where her body ended or his started. And she didn’t care. She let herself flow into his burning passion that throbbed like lava. Until a freezing cold drip oozed down the back of her skull and she gasped in pain and shock.
“I’ll kill Liv,” hissed Rakan. Anna’s head swam and Rakan steadied her. “I’m so sorry, Anna,” he said, holding her close. “How can you ever forgive me for everything that has been done to you?”
“It’s not your fault.”
“Yes, it is. I shouldn’t have gotten close to you.”
“I shouldn’t have set off the trigger.”
Rakan kissed her hair. “Maybe you should never have kissed me either.”
“Probably not,” she said, finding his lips. “Should I stop?”
“No,” he mumbled into her lips. “Never.”
“Good,” she said, wrapping her hands around his head and pulling him in. But he didn’t meld with her. “What’s wrong?”
“Even though I don’t like it, I knew about Liv’s shield. Although I didn’t realize it would stop us from melding completely. Still, I knew it was there.”
“But?”
“I didn’t know about T’eng Sten’s.”
“T’eng Sten? When? He never touched me.”
“But it was his shield that protected you from my mother’s mental attack. Not mine.”
Anna’s knees almost gave way. “That was your mother?” Her father’s murderer?
“Yes.” Rakan closed his eyes. “Can I look into your mind to see when he placed it?”
“Will you see everything?” She wasn’t ready for that.
“No. Only the memory and when he placed it.” Rakan paused. “And I’d like to check if there are any other shields, if you’ll let me.”
Anna hugged him. His warmth spread through her and she wished they could just meld again. “Will it hurt?”
“It shouldn’t. But if I feel any pain, I’ll pull out. Okay?”
She nodded and felt him surround her. She tried to let go but couldn’t.
“You’re too tense,” he said, tilting her chin up to his. “Relax.” He nuzzled her face and the knot that had gripped her insides eased away. She reached for his lips. Suddenly, she saw the second floor corridor at school, Rakan shifting in front of her, T’eng Sten and two other shapeshifters between him and Dvara. She dug her nails into Rakan and screamed.
“It’s okay, it’s over,” Rakan said. “It happened the day of the first sun rise.”
Anna trembled uncontrollably. She had felt herself transported into the hallway, not into a memory. She leaned against Rakan. “He erased my mind, didn’t he? Just like Red did to Ulf. And I would never have known.” She put a hand on Rakan’s face. “Promise me never, ever to do anything like that. To me. Or to anyone else.”
“I don’t have to promise. I don’t know how.”
“Good.” She paused. “But then you don’t know how to remove it?”
“I might. But I’d rather T’eng Sten did it. Just in case there’s a trigger I didn’t feel.”
Anna nodded. She’d have to ask Liv to remove the one she had placed as well. After the events of the past few days, everyone seemed to know everything. She walked over to the window. “Did you feel anything else?”
“No. Just T’eng Sten’s repression of that one memory and his shield to protect you from any dragon’s unwanted mental probing. His shield reacted first to my mother because it was set to be triggered when the intent was felt.” Rakan’s voice was full of respect.
Anna looked back at Rakan. She still had an uncontrollable loathing of T’eng Sten. No matter what anyone told her about him. “Could he have made it so I hate him?”
“Maybe. He didn’t actually delete the memory. He just transformed part of it and suppressed the other with a shield. He’s much more respectful than I ever gave him credit for.” Rakan paused. “But maybe that’s because I’ve only ever known my mother’s way of doing things.”
“What are you going to do about the blood pact?”
“There’s nothing I can do.”
“Will you kill her?”
Rakan came and stood in front of Anna. He took her hand in his and turned it over so he could see the Firemark. He traced it with his fingers and it blazed coral. “No.”
Anna threw herself into his arms. “You can learn to hide like Red has. We could hide together somewhere.”
Rakan held her gently. “I can’t live my life hiding, Anna. And I’d never ask you to live that way either.” He cradled her face in his hands and brushed the tears away from her cheeks with his thumbs. “I won’t kill her and I’ll face the consequences.”
Anna nodded and gripped him tighter. “I love you,” she whispered. Her mind slipped into his and she felt herself expand in an undulating wave of warmth.
“I love you, my firecat,” he answered in her mind.
* * *
Rakan pulled back slowly, carefully extracting his mind from Anna’s. Yarlung and Khotan had left. And he needed to confront them. Anna resisted, and he smiled. “I’d rather stay here, too. But if I don’t stop Yarlung, she’ll kill June herself.”
Anna dropped her hands. “What are you going to do?”
“Try to convince my parents not to kill June.”
“Will they listen?”
“Probably not. Maybe T’eng Sten can help. Or the Eld. If I can speak with them.” Rakan stood next to her by the window. “But what I do know is that if they kill June now, they’ll kill her kais too.”
“But is she really Paaliaq?”
“Yes. No. Or maybe a fragment of Paaliaq. I don’t know. But I saw her kais.”
“Would you kill her if there weren’t any kais?”
“No,” Rakan said. “Not June. But I don’t know what she was like before.” He held up a hand to keep Anna from interrupting him. “June isn’t like any of the stories I heard about Paaliaq. She isn’t the Destroyer.” He looked out the window. “But no one with a rök can go in the light. So she’s changed in ways that shouldn’t be possible. Whoever or whatever June is now, she isn’t Paaliaq anymore.”
Anna slid her hands around Rakan’s waist. “Will I see you again?”
He took her face in his hands and kissed her. “I don’t know.”
* * *
Rakan shifted onto the ledge outside his father’s lair. He needed to gather his thoughts before he could face Khotan and Dvara. They were inside, tense with excitement. He looked at the empty plateau and breathed in deeply. The air was moist and the earth was stirring. Life, as meager as it was, was ever
ywhere. He stretched his arms and embraced it. His mind sank into the land he had grown up with. The land he had loved. He dropped his arms. The land he would join all too soon. He turned and entered Khotan’s lair.
“Rakan,” said his father. “I wasn’t sure you’d come. Are you alright?”
Rakan nodded. He didn’t want to talk about their last encounter. “I take it the Meet started again?” Otherwise Yarlung would have come as soon as he arrived. And he was glad she hadn’t.
“Yes. Did you find Paaliaq?” he asked. “We can’t locate her.”
“I don’t know where June is. But even if I did, I wouldn’t tell you.”
“Why not?” snapped Dvara. “How can you doubt who she is anymore? You saw her.”
“Yes. But I’ve also seen her morph into an Elythia. And no Draak can do that.”
“Yeah, well, no Elythia can turn into an emerald green dragon either.”
“So she’s neither a Draak nor an Elythia. She isn’t Paaliaq.”
Dvara threw her hands up. “You drive me crazy. Why’d you come here?”
“Did you know the Elythia had survived?” he asked his father.
“No. No one knew. And Yarlung wishes to keep it a secret.”
Rakan nodded. For once he agreed with his mother. The hatred for the Elythia hadn’t diminished even with their presumed extinction. “Could a Draak and an Elythia have offspring?”
Khotan stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Theoretically, yes, since humans and Draak can. But I doubt it’ll ever happen. There has been too much hatred. And even if it did, the children probably wouldn’t survive very long anyway.” Khotan paused and added quietly. “Just as with the human-Draak children.”
“Well, if June isn’t a mix of the two, then she’s changed so deeply that she’s no longer Paaliaq. Either way, we shouldn’t kill her.”
Dvara snorted. “It doesn’t matter who she is. If we kill her we can start a new life. We’ll all be free.”
“But her kais will die.”
“She’ll free them.”
“No, she won’t.” Rakan sank into his favorite chair. “She doesn’t even know they’re there. I don’t know how to explain what I saw. It’s like they’re in suspension. They’re suffering.”
“It’s not our problem,” Dvara said.
“Yes, it is. I can’t just let them die. There are over a hundred of them. Father, can’t you make Yarlung understand that?”
Khotan shook his head. “No.”
“Can’t you even try?”
“There are some things you can’t change, Rakan. Yarlung was my Kairök. She won’t listen to me.”
“But she isn’t anymore—”
Khotan held up a hand, silencing Rakan. “Even when she gave me back my rök, I knew I’d have to choose my battles. I was willing to give up almost everything. But there was one thing I couldn’t,” said Khotan. “And that was you. I fought her to have you here with me and Dvara. And I’ll never regret what she made me accept in order to have that.”
“What did she make you accept?” Rakan asked warily.
Khotan growled and turned his back. But Rakan could feel his father’s pain.
“He can’t talk about it, okay?” snapped Dvara. She squared her shoulders and crossed her arms. “But I can, since I’m no longer connected to him.” She looked defiantly at Khotan and then back at Rakan. “Why haven’t you ever wondered how he and Yarlung can speak? He has his rök.”
Rakan felt his pulse slow down. “Kraal’s poison.” He had never questioned that they could mind-link. They always had.
“No. Her own. And she made it so that no one, not even her, can remove it without killing Khotan.”
Khotan walked towards the fire that flickered in the stone hearth. “It’s okay.” His voice was choked. He leaned against the stone mantle. “I have chosen my final battle.” He faced Rakan. “I will give my life so that you and Dvara can live yours. Remember that, when the time comes,” he said. “It is my choice.”
Rakan stared at his father’s outline, wondering how to protect June from a suicide attack without anyone getting hurt. Including his father.
Chapter 29
The Ultimate Sacrifice
RAKAN PACED HIS FATHER’S LAIR. HE wanted to go back to Anna, but if the Meet adjourned he wouldn’t feel it in Tromso. Especially not if he was with Anna… he shut his eyes, imagining her lips press against his, her energy that felt like a shielder’s mingle with his. Warmth filled his body and he realized a second too late that he was being shifted by one of the Eld.
“You disappoint me,” said the disembodied voice of the Trailer Eld before dropping him into a free fall.
Rakan flipped in midair and landed on his feet, both knives drawn, ready to fight. The rotunda had been restructured so that the Eld were clearly in charge. They were seated behind a stone podium facing a semicircle of Kairöks on their thrones. The alcoves behind the Eld were empty. Rakan straightened and put his knives away. They’d be useless anyway. He faced the Eld.
“Show us your memory of Paaliaq,” they said in unison.
“No,” Rakan answered. A murmur of surprise rippled behind him.
“It was not a request.” The Mind Eld stood. The rust and iron lining of her cloak flashed brightly. She spread her hands. An image appeared of June launching herself at Liv and Erling. Their wings and fair hair left no doubt as to their identity as Elythia. The rotunda broke into cries of anger and hatred that intensified as June morphed into an emerald green dragon with a gold crest, her black claws stretched to attack Liv. Fury exploded within Rakan and the image shattered. But it was too late. Everyone had seen June as Paaliaq. And they had seen the Elythia.
“Well,” said T’eng Sten coolly, his voice carrying above the mayhem. “I suppose that disproves Haakaramanoth’s claim to having taken Paaliaq’s place as Kairök after she died. Perhaps he should leave now.”
A gong sounded. “Kairök Haakaramanoth’s position is not subject to discussion. He remains,” said the Eld. “The question at hand is Kairök Yarlung’s claim to have found Kairök Paaliaq.”
“But the Elythia are alive. Who cares about Paaliaq?” cried Kairök Japetus.
“Silence. Kairök Yarlung’s claim is legitimate. A duel between Kairök Yarlung and Kairök Paaliaq will be held at the next Call to Rise. The Elythia will be left alone as per our truce.”
“What truce? We thought they were dead.”
“We signed a truce with the Ascended after the war.” The mention of the Elythian rulers brought a communal hiss of anger from the assembly. “Enough. The Draak and the Elythia will forever remain apart. The truce remains.” The Eld’s statements caused an uproar.
“A duel can’t be set without both parties being present,” stated Kairök Tetherys, once silence had been restored.
“Kairök Paaliaq is being summoned.” Another ripple of anger travelled around the rotunda. Rakan clenched his fists, ready to protect June.
A tense silence filled the hall as the Eld shimmered, searching for June. Rakan hoped that she was in the light. Even if her kais were suffering, it would be better than being called into the Meet. Time dragged on and Rakan glanced at Haakon. His face was immobile and he seemed unconcerned until Rakan noticed the tension in his jaw.
The flickering light of the huge torches that had been installed for the trial made the rotunda look like the inside of a dead dragon’s ribcage. Rakan looked closer. The torches were made of the black metal known as kor. The only metal not found on Earth. And the only metal that could slice through a dragon’s hide. But they didn’t feel like the metal of his knives. They felt cold to his mind-touch. And strangely empty. The flames that licked up the sides of the vault gave no light. Instead they absorbed it, making the dark markings that looked like ribs. It was a shield, disguised as light. Or rather, a shield against light. A shield against the Elythia. Maybe the Eld weren’t as sure of the Elythian adherence to the truce as they tried to appear.
The enforced
silence began to weigh on Rakan. All but the Kairöks were shifting their weight uneasily. Rakan hadn’t noticed before, but Haakon didn’t have the standard two bodyguards with him. Rakan felt Haakon’s awareness turn to him, even though he didn’t move. Rakan resisted the urge to look away. He focused on Haakon’s trail. It wasn’t a Kairök’s, but it wasn’t exactly a kai’s either. And it occasionally shimmered oxidized green.
Rakan felt a strange sense of calm wrap around him. A wave of warmth filled him and he floated in limbo. Rakan forced himself to resist, but it was too strong. The Eld were altering his perception of time, and there was nothing he could do.
When he came back to himself everything was as it had been. Except that June was curled up on a stone throne that had been added next to Haakon’s. Rakan cursed himself for not having been able to resist the Eld’s manipulation of his center of gravity. He hadn’t seen her arrive and had no idea how long she had been there. The Kairöks were fully awake, but most of the kais were unnaturally still. The Eld were speaking but he couldn’t catch what they were saying. He focused on June. She looked out of place in jeans and a plain black turtleneck, her hair in a ponytail.
“The Meet can now be adjourned.”
Rakan forced himself into motion and staggered forward. The air was as thick and cloying as mud. “June isn’t Paaliaq,” he said. Angry cries greeted his words. “Could Paaliaq go in the light?” asked Rakan, raising his voice to be heard.
“Of course not,” said Kairök Tetherys. “No Draak can.”
“June can. She isn’t Paaliaq. There’s no fight.”
“Rakan, that’s enough. How dare you interrupt?” snapped Yarlung.
Rakan walked towards June. But she didn’t react to his presence. The throne was nearly as high as he was and she was curled up in a corner. He put a hand on her leg. Her head jerked up like a rabid animal’s and Rakan cursed his mother’s poison. June’s eyes were a wild mix of blue and green and he wasn’t even sure if she could hear him. “June? Are you okay?”
Dragon Fire Page 34