They collected an unofficial honor guard as they went, children running alongside them, and a number of adults following, looking almost as eager. They had nearly reached the top of the street, and the far end of the town, when Eric came jogging up, out of breath.
“There you are!” he said, smiling at Jocelyn. “I got held up, and I was worried I would miss you.” He gave her a wistful look. “I wish I could come with you, but my father won’t hear of it. I’d love to see your reaction to Basal Headlands. They’re beautiful, and unlike anywhere else you’ll ever see, I imagine.”
Kincaid was eyeing the young man with disfavor, clearly unimpressed with the very idea of him following them out of Arinton.
“What are Basal Headlands?” Jocelyn asked quickly, forestalling any rudeness.
“It’s the rock formation on the coast, directly across from Wyvern Islands,” explained Eric eagerly. “The rocks form these columns in all different heights. They sort of rise up in mounds, and you can walk across them. It’s a bit like walking through a stone honeycomb. I used to play on them as a child, but it’s quite dangerous. It can be very slippery when the waves crash over them.”
“Sounds fun,” said Jocelyn amicably.
“It’s beautiful,” said Eric. “And very rare. There’s no formation like it anywhere else in Valoria, at least. Legends say wyverns weren’t always confined to the water, but they used to be able to sun themselves on land, like seals. It was said the pattern in the rocks was caused by wyvern tracks when they first left the mainlands to reach the islands.” He flashed her a grin. “But I guess we all know that’s just an old wives’ tale, really.”
Kincaid raised an eyebrow. “Huh. So you people don’t just believe every fool legend you hear, after all?”
Jocelyn frowned at him, and Eric’s normally friendly countenance was darkened by a scowl. They had reached the edge of town, almost at the crest of the hill, and they had all stopped walking.
“I suppose it’s what I would expect from a Bryford boy, but you’re pretty skeptical for someone who’s traveling with an actual dragon.”
Kincaid narrowed his eyes. Jocelyn suspected he was more offended by being labeled a “boy” than any of the rest of it, but she didn’t give him a chance to retaliate. Clearly she couldn’t leave it to him to make the appropriate speeches of farewell. She would have to risk the words.
“Thank you,” she said, offering her hand to Eric. “For making us so welcome, and taking such good care of us while we were here.”
She felt power swirling gently out from her, and for a moment Eric’s forehead creased as if in calculation.
“I don’t feel I made you nearly welcome enough,” he said slowly. He took her offered hand, and Kincaid shifted beside her. Eric ignored him, looking deeply into Jocelyn’s eyes for a moment, still seeming slightly confused, then pressed his lips against the back of her hand. It was a normal, perfectly respectful gesture of farewell, but Jocelyn could feel the tension radiating off Kincaid in waves as Eric’s lips lingered just a moment longer than necessary.
Jocelyn felt her cheeks go slightly pink as Eric again met her eyes, still a little dazed from the unintentional effect of her power.
“Perhaps I could see you as far as—” he began, but Kincaid had apparently heard enough.
“No thanks, that’s not necessary,” he said brusquely. “We’ll be fine.”
He reached over and grasped Jocelyn’s hand, pulling it from Eric’s grip, where it was still resting. He continued to clasp it tightly as he pulled her up the hill toward their horses. Kincaid seemed as full of nervous energy as Jocelyn felt, and they were almost running by the time they reached their mounts.
If Jocelyn’s cheeks had been pink before, they must be crimson now. Kincaid was still holding her hand, and it wasn’t the way she and Lucy had held hands as children. His strong, capable fingers were intertwined with hers. The slight tingle she had felt in the spot where Eric had kissed her was instantly eclipsed by the heat exploding in every point where their hands were touching. In fact, it took her about three seconds to forget Eric even existed.
Kincaid threw her into the saddle with more enthusiasm than usual, and she let out a sudden laugh. She felt like a princess in a story, being spirited away by a handsome knight from a fearsome beast, or perhaps a tyrannical father. Kincaid raised his eyebrows questioningly, but she didn’t articulate the thought.
She was glad to be back in the saddle, and her heart felt light as they urged their horses forward. A moment before they crested the hill, Jocelyn felt both her hair and her skirts whip violently around her as a sudden rush of mighty wind told her Elddreki had just taken to the skies.
She was looking up at his vast reptilian form, circling above them, when they reached the top of the hill. A moment later, she brought her gaze down, and sucked in an involuntary breath.
The sea.
It was as beautiful as she had known it would be. Stretching east as far as the eye could see, the rising sun sparkling on the endless expanse. Perhaps the dragon magic that was inexplicably woven into her makeup gave her a share in the beasts’ longing for the ocean, because she could feel its call as surely as Elddreki had. Her heart sang at the sight before her, and she laughed aloud for no other reason than sheer joy.
Just as she had guessed, the shoreline here was rugged and wild, no less beautiful than it was treacherous. Cliffs stretched along toward the north, but immediately in front of them the ground sloped steeply down to the rock formation Eric had mentioned. The waves crashed against the strange stone columns rather than hurling themselves at the cliffs, and Jocelyn could see that Basal Headlands was indeed a slippery and dangerous patch of ground.
But Eric was right. It was also unique, breathtaking in its natural beauty. Jocelyn had no difficulty imagining how legends of magic would grow up around this place. Looking further out, she saw the shape of Wyvern Islands, looming on the horizon, jagged and unapproachable. Were there dragons waiting for them there? Would Elddreki find the dragonlings he sought? Would these dragons maybe even have the answers Jocelyn so desperately wanted regarding her own power?
As she gazed at the islands, Jocelyn felt a strange tingling sensation, one she couldn’t immediately identify. Was it magic? No, she realized with surprise. It was belonging. It was something she had never expected to feel for any place outside her beloved Kyona, but it was unmistakably there. Perhaps it was because she now knew for certain the power within her was dragon magic, but Jocelyn felt an inexplicable connection with the place.
She spurred her horse down the hill, toward Basal Headlands. She could sense Kincaid close behind, but she didn’t wait for him. In minutes she reached the bottom of the slope, and she threw herself from the saddle. She scrambled up onto the rock columns, her heart as light as a child’s as she skipped from surface to surface.
“Careful!” called Kincaid, a laugh in his voice. She turned to look at him, laughing as well.
“It’s beautiful!”
“It is,” he agreed, smiling in amusement. “You look like you belong here.”
A shadow passing overhead made them both look up, and a moment later Elddreki had landed beside them, perched precariously on the uneven surface.
“Well?” Jocelyn demanded, grinning up at the dragon. “What do you think of the sea?”
Elddreki drew a deep breath before answering, his eyes closed and his expression serene.
“Transcendent,” he said simply, and Jocelyn and Kincaid exchanged grins. A joyful mood seemed to have gripped them all. “Are you ready to travel to the islands?” Elddreki asked, and Jocelyn nodded, her expression solemn but her eyes still dancing.
“Will you carry me there?” she asked. “Like you carried me over the river? You did say you would like to take me on a true flight sometime.”
Elddreki smiled. “I did indeed. I would be glad to carry you across the ocean, Jocelyn, daughter of kings.” He turned to Kincaid. “I will come back for you, Kincaid, and carry
you across the water also, if you wish it.”
“Hang on,” said Kincaid quickly. “Maybe I’d better go first. We don’t know what we’ll find over there.”
“Which is precisely why we’re going over there to explore,” said Jocelyn lightly.
“Yes, I know that,” Kincaid said, impatient. “I just don’t like the idea of you going first. The whole area is supposed to be treacherous and impassable, remember? What if you can’t get through? And even if you do make it to the islands, Elddreki would have to leave you there, alone, in order to come back for me.”
“True,” said Jocelyn, her expression cheeky. “But if you went first, you’d have to leave me here, alone. Eric might come looking for me and spirit me away to keep house for him and raise his wyvern-believing, eastern children.”
Kincaid shot her a look, unimpressed, but she just grinned at him.
“The decision is not in your hands, Kincaid,” said Elddreki placidly. “I did not offer to take you first.”
“That’s put you in your place,” chuckled Jocelyn, still inexplicably gleeful. “You don’t have to stand around waiting for us. You can take the horses back to Arinton while we’re gone. It was unnecessary to bring them on such a short trip.”
Kincaid didn’t look happy, but he didn’t argue the point further. He stepped back to watch, his arms folded and his forehead slightly creased. Jocelyn chuckled at his expression, then tripped lightly up to him, skipping over the honeycomb-like rock.
“Aren’t you going to take your leave of me?” she asked brightly. “In case I’m swallowed by the ocean, or eaten by the wyverns, and never return?”
Kincaid didn’t look like he found her joke very funny, but she swept him her best court curtsy anyway. She extended her hand as she rose, as she had done to Eric, but more formally.
Kincaid uncrossed his arms and took it as if by instinct, holding it lightly for a moment, his eyes burning into hers. Then he bowed over it as magnificently as any of her father’s courtiers had ever done, and pressed his lips to her skin. The touch was light, but he lingered even longer than Eric had, and when he finally raised his head and their eyes again locked, Jocelyn felt strangely breathless.
“Be safe,” he said, his voice low and intense.
She turned quickly away, shaking off the sudden tension of the moment, and leaped lightly onto the top of a nearby mound. She balanced on the highest column, her arms spread like wings and her face turned toward the distant islands.
“I’m ready, Elddreki,” she said cheerfully. “I want to fly.”
Whatever she had claimed, she wasn’t entirely ready for the suddenness with which the dragon responded. Before she even realized he had moved, Elddreki’s talons had curled around her shoulders and she was lifting into the air.
“Careful of her injured arm!”
Kincaid’s shout was already faint, lost on the wind. Jocelyn knew it wasn’t a good idea, but she looked down anyway. Kincaid was barely visible, an ant on the intricate stone pattern of Basal Headlands. The rock formation was beautiful from a bird’s eye view, but it didn’t hold her attention for long.
Her eyes were drawn irresistibly eastward, toward the rocky shapes protruding from the water, looming larger by the second.
Wyvern Islands at last.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Elddreki traveled over the water at an impossible speed. Jocelyn’s stomach seemed to have gone missing, but she wasn’t sure if that was because of the flight or because of her nerves about reaching the islands. The sensation was as exhilarating as it was terrifying, the water flying past below them more quickly than any river had ever run, and the islands approaching at a breathtaking rate. She felt secure, clasped firmly in Elddreki’s talons, but it was still unnerving the way her legs dangled beneath her, with nothing between her feet and the ocean surface, far far below.
Within minutes, she could see the rocky slopes of the closest island, details starting to emerge. She suddenly felt a surge of power, seeming to emanate from the very air around her. She drew in a sharp breath, but the sensation was as brief as it was intense, and there was no check in Elddreki’s flight. Testing the air around her, Jocelyn realized it hummed with power, similar to the Kyonan mountains.
Her excitement grew. Had they just passed through the magic barrier that kept humans from approaching the dragons’ realm? She knew a moment of concern for Kincaid. He wasn’t weirdly magical like she was. Would he be able to pass through it unscathed?
Elddreki had almost reached the island toward which they had been flying, but he suddenly swerved to the right, making for a different one, further south. Jocelyn focused her mind for a moment, and she thought she understood why. The power she felt in the air was not emanating from the first island. Elddreki was following its trail.
She barely had time to note that the new island was the largest she could see when Elddreki’s mighty back feet touched land. He released her, and she stumbled forward a step, rolling her shoulders. They had landed on a large plateau, halfway up a barren rocky slope.
“I can feel it,” she said eagerly to her dragon companion. “There are dragons here!”
“Indeed,” Elddreki responded mildly.
His eyes were not on her, and the subsequent rush of wind told Jocelyn why. She followed his gaze to see two dragons alighting, only feet from them. She swallowed hard and stumbled backward, stopping only when she felt her back hit Elddreki’s warm, solid scales.
For a long moment no one spoke. The dragons watched the newcomers unblinkingly, their expressions impossible to read. Although they were intimidating enough, Jocelyn noticed they were both smaller than Elddreki, presumably making him the oldest present. It must be a strange experience for him, she realized. One was close to him in size, but the other was noticeably smaller, with scales of a bright yellow-orange.
Finally the larger of the two spoke, his eyes trained on Elddreki. Jocelyn realized he must be speaking in dragon-tongue, because the sounds were incomprehensible to her. Elddreki responded, and the gaze of all three dragons flicked to Jocelyn. She resisted the urge to tug nervously at her skirts.
“Very well,” said the first dragon, inclining his head. “We will speak in the language of men, for the sake of your companion.”
There was a moment of silence before Jocelyn realized the creatures were all still looking at her, expectantly.
“Thank you,” she squeaked out, and the attention returned to Elddreki.
“Who are you?” asked the smaller dragon, curiously, and something about her voice told Jocelyn she was female. “We have never had a dragon from outside visit this realm.”
“And we have certainly never had a human within our lands,” said the other dragon, disapproval clear in his voice. Jocelyn drew closer to Elddreki, and was reassured by the pulse of magic he projected over her. The female dragon watched her, tilting her head, and Jocelyn was sure she had sensed the interaction.
“I am Elddreki,” Elddreki said. “I am a dragon of Vasilisa, and I have come in search of your colony. Many years have I wondered whether those who left Vasilisa long ago might be found by one willing to leave the mountains to search for them. And my companion is Jocelyn.”
“If you come in peace, we will not turn one of our kind away,” said the male dragon, inclining his head. “But you take a liberty bringing a human here.”
“I am aware,” responded Elddreki. “But she is my companion on this quest, she and another. They have assisted me in my search. She is a daughter of the kings of Kyona. There is a friendship spanning many generations between Vasilisa and her royal house.”
“Indeed?” The dragon showed the first hint of interest in Jocelyn. “Our elders have seen something of this from afar, I believe.” He gave her a penetrating look. “Are you the princess of Kyona who has married the Valorian prince, and seeks our presence across the land?”
“No,” said Jocelyn, stunned. “I think you mean Princess Sarai. She was the sister of my distant father
, but she passed to her ancestors generations ago.”
“Ah,” said the dragon, losing interest. “I forget how quickly human generations pass.”
“But there is something unusual about you,” interjected the younger dragon, curiously. “Especially when you speak. You have a signature of your own, not unlike that of Elddreki.” She gave Jocelyn a long sniff. “Yes, a strong signature.”
“The human has magic?” demanded the male dragon, drawing back in evident horror. “Is it as we feared? Is she—”
“Peace,” interrupted the female. “She is no abomination.” She sniffed at Jocelyn again. “She is something…entirely new.”
The larger dragon frowned at Jocelyn, apparently still suspicious, but he seemed to accept the truth of his companion’s words.
“She is indeed something new,” Elddreki said. “She was born with her power, and she understands its origins no more than you do. We have examined it on our journey, and I believe she possesses the power of change.”
“Change,” mused the yellow dragon. “Yes, I believe you are right. What a noble and fearsome power.”
Jocelyn just blinked, completely taken aback at this characterization of her magic.
“You said you have another human companion,” said the male dragon. “Where is this other?”
“He is back on the mainland, awaiting my return. If you will permit, I will bring him here to join us.”
The dragon frowned thoughtfully. “Is he also a member of the royal house with which Vasilisa claims friendship?”
“No,” acknowledged Elddreki. “But he is of noble bearing.”
Jocelyn waited, holding her breath.
“Of course you must bring him,” the younger dragon said brightly. “I will stay with this young maiden while you are gone.”
Again, the other dragon didn’t look altogether pleased, but he didn’t protest. Elddreki met Jocelyn’s eyes for a brief moment, then, with his usual startling rapidity, launched into the air. Within moments he was out of sight.
Legacy of the Curse Page 35