Her body began moving toward him and there was nothing she could do to stop it. As she came eye to eye with him she squeezed her eyes together, trying to will it all out of existence. This couldn’t be happening. A sob ripped through the tenuous strands holding her heart together.
A soft noise made her eyes fly open. She saw Thom, and he drew a long breath, coughing at the effort it took. Her father didn’t seem to notice. He was occupied with her.
“You have been a thorn in my side long enough!” He said. “I have tried over and over to give you a chance to quit this ridiculous notion of having dragons re-enter this world. You will NOT go further.” His eyes were wild and crazed; this man before her was not her father. No longer the man whom she had loved and trusted with every fiber of her being. Not the man who had lulled her to sleep at night with stories of elven princesses.
Both of his hands were around her neck and he began to squeeze. She felt the pressure that was quickly cutting off her airway and darkness began to rush into her vision. She felt a touch on her ankle and her muscles began to relax. With the last gasp of air she had, she managed to rasp, “I love you, Father.” His eyes went wide. As he tried to speak, blood bubbled up through his lips. His grip on her neck loosened and his mouth moved, trying even now to defy the death that rushed to take him. He let go of her and she stumbled to the floor. He grabbed at the dagger sticking out from between his ribs.
In the next moment, her father lay in a heap on the rock floor. Her heart sank and her hands shook.
She flew at Thom and threw her arms around him as she sobbed. He drew a few more ragged breaths, then leaned away to look in her eyes.
“Your uncle.”
Bob’s breath came in short, hesitating bursts. Mey reached for his hand and took it in her own. His eyes moved to her as she leaned over him. With a will only an elf can posses, he found strength to utter the most beautiful words she had ever heard.
“Meylaran, ah la’endra ute. Fur’ye.”
His body relaxed as his life passed out into the world and his spirit mingled with the wind and infused with the tress, the plants and all living things; just as the elven people believed. She felt a part of him flow through her and embed itself into one of the pieces of her broken heart.
“I love you, too,” she whispered, leaning close and softly kissing his forehead. “Forever.”
“He gave everything for you to accomplish your journey.” Thom said. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to him. She wept.
Lifting her head, she watched as Durlag and Elerbee approached, sorrow filled their eyes as they knelt next to Bob. Garrin stood near, watching her as she held on to Thom for dear life, fearful if she let go, she would fall into a black abyss that would swallow her whole.
“You still have to find the Idylic,” Thom said to her quietly.
Elerbee said a prayer over her uncle’s body. He looked to her and said, “You still have to finish this, Mey. Let his strength guide you now.”
“My father…” she choked out.
“He wasn’t your father any longer,” Garrin spoke up. “He was consumed by evil, empty inside. That was not the man you told me of so often.”
“Garrin.” She broke from Thom to stand and approach him. She hugged him close. “What happened to you?”
“They made it look like I should have been dead. He ordered me brought to him. But he only used me to get to you.”
There was more to that story; she saw it in his eyes, but she didn’t push him. His pain was always his own, he didn’t share.
She made vague introductions of the rest of the group that had gotten her safely to this point and explained her journey. He was fascinated by her dragon features but still had the same light-hearted outlook for things.
“I always knew you were special, kid.”
She smiled slightly.
At the entrance to the secret tunnel, they stopped as Mey examined the opening. Taking a step through, the air instantly changed. It was charged and the urgency returned. The others followed her lead.
Sparks of colored lights floated down the path, always staying ahead of her, as if they were guiding her.
The pathway widened gradually, and a soft blue light glowed distantly beyond another pool of clear water. Peering in, she saw huge clusters of the sparkling farthen crystals Thom had used to weave the magic that let him contact the Mage’s Circle. She heard his sharp intake of breath as he approached, not far behind her.
“I’ve never seen so many in one place.”
“It’s beautiful.”
Just past the pool, the blue glow brightened and the lights danced wildly at the base of a set of stairs. They were crumbling but their shape was discernable. Mey felt the strong tug pulling her forward. Thom’s hand slid into hers and he squeezed lightly.
They walked together toward the light, the rest following them, strangely quiet. Even Durlag remained hushed as they ascended the short flight.
Mey had to put her free hand up to shield her eyes. Light prismed and shimmered and created blinding bright bursts. Color swirled through the white starbursts and wind blew in great gusts across the open cavern. Crystal formations stuck out of the walls, the ceiling and the floor, throwing light endlessly around the room.
There was a shape in the center of the room. Mey squinted at the unmoving image and it came into view. A stone structure rising as tall as the cavern itself. As her eyes adjusted to the swirling lights around her, she could better focus on the effigy.
A glorious creature, rising regally from the stone base, the etched detail of the scales, wings, claws and face were faultless. No sculptor on Cantor could have created something so perfect.
Mey drew the Heartstone from her pouch. Looking from it to the statue, she saw the portion missing from the dragon’s chest, where the heart should be situated. A low hum sounded and the shard in her hands began to vibrate slightly. The statue was calling to it, wanting to be rejoined with the absent part that would again make it whole.
Turning to face Thom and her friends, she knew what she had to do. She would never see them again, not as a person that could share laughter and feeling and love with them.
She touched Thom’s cheek. Tears blurred his image briefly before they fell, unchecked down her face. “I love you. Don’t ever forget.”
“Mey.” He choked on her name.
“No words,” she said. She leaned in to him, their lips almost touching. “Just feel.” She kissed him, letting everything she ever felt flow through her into him, infusing every pore and binding them together with tenderness, rapture, passion, hurt, pain, love. Everything they would never share in this life, she gave to him in the few moments they had left.
As she pulled away, she faced the others. The friends that had stood next to her, fought beside her and made sure she followed the right path. She said her goodbyes to each of them. She knew what she had to sacrifice to ensure humanity survived and gave goodness a chance to triumph the growing evil.
She turned to face the statue and took a faltering step forward, placing her foot carefully among the crystal stalagmites. Then another and another, until she stood before the towering structure. Her mouth was dry and her breath came fast. With her heart pounding in her ears, she found a foothold on the stone base and climbed to where she could reach the chest.
The stone fit perfectly as she placed it. A bright light shone around the cracks and molded it solidly in place. The hum rose to a deafening level and Mey held on desperately so the impact of power wouldn’t knock her to the floor, where crystal stalagmites larger than a man shot up in lethal points.
She heard Thom call out to her. But lights so bright she thought for certain she’d gone blind erupted all around. A white-hot fire burned through her middle, spreading to her limbs and all the colors she could imagine and some she had never dreamed existed moved around her. Her body bowed forward involuntarily and her back burned as she felt something erupt through bone and skin. I’m dead, she though
t.
As she arched back, her hands ripped from the stone structure, she knew she would land on one of the deadly crystal spikes. But her body floated securely above the floor, weightless.
She caught glimpses of color again but these were solid shapes. Moving so fast they were merely blurs in her vision. Gradually they slowed and she could see them clearly. Dragons. Graceful, elegant bodies slid lazily through the air around her. She turned all around but couldn’t see her friends. Only the light and the dragons.
There was a brighter spot not far in the distance and she concentrated on it. Coming into focus, it was the most awesome creature she had ever seen. A brilliant golden dragon with eyes the color of clear, pink crystal. She felt her feet find solid purchase on the ground before it. Instinctively she bowed her head low.
“Meylaran.” The voice was sweet music in her ears. “Stand.”
She obeyed.
“You’ve opened the doorway for us.”
“Yes. As I was meant to do. The world needs your presence to survive. The balance of evil has overcome all else and is consuming mankind.”
“You are needed as well.”
She shook her head, her heart heavy with pain and sorrow.
“I completed my task on this world. I accept that I must now move on.”
The golden dragon was silent for a time.
“I see that you have, then. You have sacrificed much to become one of us. Behold your true self, Meylaran.” The dragon gestured to a large shimmering oval and she stepped closer to it.
Raising her head, she stared into liquid silver eyes. The richest purple she had ever seen infused the scales covering her body and majestic wings flowed out from her back and fluttered once. How could this beautiful creature be her? When her hand reached out, the image’s hand reached as well. Hard as it was for her to believe, this was her true form.
“Your mother sacrificed as well. You have inherited her generous nature.”
“Thank you. Will you enter the world now? Will you make sure justice prevails?”
“We will. Will you join us?”
“I…I thought I would have to.” There was no keeping her confusion hidden, he would read it in her thoughts even if she tried. Wasn’t that her destiny? Wasn’t the end of her journey to become a dragon and serve the people of Cantor?
“I can bestow upon you one gift for your magnanimous sacrifice.” He smiled at her with such sincerity she found herself smiling back at him. “I know your deepest desire. I can see it in your heart. Would you have me grant it to you?”
“But what of my duty? Certainly I cannot have both.”
“I am offering you both. If you speak it, it will be so.”
There was no way she could be so lucky. Would they let her have her fondest wish so easily? There had to be strings attached. Her whole life had been giving up things she loved and cared for. No way could she have it all.
He was waiting for her answer. She had done what she was born to do. She had opened the doorway for the dragons. Why not take what he obviously thought she deserved for accomplishing that? She could feel her heart bursting with excitement at the prospect.
“I chose…” She closed her eyes and pictured Thom. In seconds she imagined an entire life with him, a home, children, all while keeping true to her dragon heritage and serving the people. Being able to walk among dragons and human-kind alike; it was her deepest desire and one she thought she would never have. A single tear slid down her scaled cheek.
The golden raised his wings wide and spread them around her.
“So be it.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lela Robichaux is a contributing writer for local publications in her Northern Louisiana hometown. She has been a fan of writing and reading fantasy and science fiction since she was a teenager. She recently took a plunge and went back to school and graduated in 2015 with her Bachelor of Arts in English, where she was a member of the English honor society, Sigma Tau Delta and the History honor society, Phi Alpha Theta. She has served as a research assistant for one of her professors on the local history of prominent figures in her hometown. She loves spending time with friends, reading, writing and “nerding out” with her husband and son.
Table of Contents
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIVE
SIX
SEVEN
EIGHT
NINE
TEN
ELEVEN
TWELVE
THIRTEEN
FOURTEEN
FIFTEEN
SIXTEEN
SEVENTEEN
EIGHTEEN
NINETEEN
TWENTY
TWENTY-ONE
TWENTY-TWO
TWENTY-THREE
TWENTY-FOUR
Reborn (The Dragons of Cantor Book 1) Page 28