“Bower?” Saffron stepped closer to me. She seemed as unable as I was to control this dream. Or had we been swept somewhere by a dark magic? Closing my eyes, I tried to will us back to reality, but when I opened my eyes again I still stood next to Saffron in the darkness. I wondered if letting go of her would free me, but I could not leave her here.
The hissing seemed to surround us. Something like a wind or like invisible hands seemed to be pulling on my clothes. My hair whipped about as if a storm was riding.
And then a mocking voice lifted from the darkness, so loud I winced and covered my ears with one hand. “Saffron, child.”
Even though the voice seemed to have no body, I recognized Enric’s harsh tones. In the darkness, a light started to glow and slowly spread out into the king’s face, huge and distorted. He looked as he always had to me—or almost always—his skin smooth, his dark hair long and shining. But his eyes seemed unfocused and his glance darted about as if he could not quite see us.
“Saffron, come home.” His stare kept searching the room.
Leaning close to Saffron, I whispered, “He can’t see us.”
But as soon as I spoke, his stare flickered toward us. “Ah, but I can hear you. And I know you reach for me. Saffron, I can give you so much more than you have ever dreamed of.”
Beside me, Saffron tried to pull away from me as she turned to flee from that distorted, huge face.
“Saffron, don’t let go!” I whispered to her.
Enric’s face expanded, growing so large it seemed to fill the space around us. “Reach out, Saffron. Join your mind to mine.”
“No!” Saffron wailed, wrenching her hand free and turning to flee Enric.
In an instant, I felt the presence in the darkness seem to focus on us.
“Ah, there you are, Saffron. And the boy who would steal my throne.”
The king’s stare focused on us, and waves of malevolent hate poured over me, as hot as any furnace. I thought it to be more like the fires of Torvald when they had burned so many books, and nothing like the clean warmth that came from the belly of a dragon against your back.
Saffron kept shouting at the king that she would never join him. I grabbed her hand and held tight. When we had been together, we had always been stronger.
Enric’s face wavered but his voice swept over us, booming and painfully loud. “You must, Saffron. You will be queen. You will rule Torvald at my side. All you need to do is throw aside this false king. What does he know of family, Saffron? You are a Maddox and meant to rule.”
“Saffron!” I shouted, my voice small compared to Enric’s.
The king’s voice rose like a wave that would throw us all away. “Look at him. Do you think he can rule? Admit it. You know he is weak. He is a fool. He is not fit to wear the crown.”
Saffron fell to her knees. “I can’t fight it. I’m sorry, Bower, I can’t hold him out for much longer.”
I clung to her hand. I didn’t want to lose her to the darkness, to Enric’s magic. I feared she might end up trapped in this darkness forever while in the mountain hut her body starved away to nothing. I knew Enric was trying to bend her to his will. But Enric hadn’t been able to see her—or us—at first.
That meant he hadn’t created this darkness—he was just using it. It had to be some part of Saffron’s mind—for it was her dream. Her nightmare. And that meant Jaydra should be able to reach into this place.
I knelt down next to Saffron. “Find Jaydra! Find your sister.”
Saffron glanced at me, her tear-streaked face lighting with a glimmer of hope.
I held her hand even tighter. “You are connected with Jaydra. Reach out for her.”.
“You are Saffron of the ancient clan of Maddox, born of storm and fury. You have no other kin than me.” Enric’s voice boomed and his anger battered at me like an invisible hand.
“Jaydra,” Saffron whispered, her voice breaking.
Enric’s stare turned to me. “You cannot come between me and what is mine!”
“She’s not yours,” I called out, but I could feel Saffron being tugged from my grip. I clung to her..
Looking up, Saffron at last faced Enric. Her hands began to glow and I could see she was pushing back at Enric with her magic. Turning to me, Saffron said, “Bower, I need your help. Help me call Jaydra.”
Lifting my head, holding tight to Saffron’s hand, I closed my eyes and threw the entire weight of his mind against him.
Jaydra!
I thought the word, but it seemed to echo as if I had spoken it.
Enric roared, “Mine! The girl is mine.”
Wind and shards that felt like ice battered me. My hand started to slip from Saffron’s.
But something inside me sparked bright.
It was what had happened when we had battled the Iron Guard. A knot of emotions like joy and hunger and excitement surged through me. I felt as if I were a dragon.
Suddenly, I knew the shape of Jaydra’s mind, of every dragon’s mind. They hovered so close I felt I could just reach out to touch them, to pull them close.
But my grip slipped away from Saffron’s hand.
Eyes opening, I cried out for her. I could see her—almost. But it seemed as if we were spiraling into an eternity of darkness.
And then a red flame blossomed into the dark.
19
Of Riders and Friends
The moment our hands broke apart, I felt Bower reach out with his mind to call Jaydra. She roared into the darkness, or a dream version of her did, dragon fire blazing and pushing back the blackness.
I didn’t know how Bower had done it.
She blasted the wavering image of Enric with fiery breaths, and I wondered if he too would writhe in his bed as this terrible nightmare rolled through his mind.
Enric’s huge face lost its youthfulness. His hair receded, becoming mere wisps, his cheeks became sunken and his corpse-like face dwindled, shrinking under the onslaught of Jaydra’s cleaning fire. As his image faded, his wavering voice called out, “Too late, Saffron. I have seen where you are. My armies are coming!”
With a flash of flame, Enric vanished. Jaydra swept me up in her claws, but where was Bower? I called out his name.
He answered at once, his voice weak, “Here…here.” He was locked in Jaydra’s other front claw. Now the challenge was to break free of this vision.
Jaydra spoke aloud to me as if she could always speak, “Now. Both of you. Too dark place for human or dragon.”
In the next moment, I was staring up at the ceiling of my hut. Bower sat next to me. I pulled in a shaking breath. My blankets had been tumbled and sweat slicked my back and face. Glancing around, I couldn’t see Jaydra, but the hut creaked and I knew she had wrapped herself around the structure. She sent me warm but exhausted thoughts, as if bursting into my dream—that horrible dream—had taken a great deal from her.
Bower ran a hand over his face. “That was…terrible.”
I agreed. My head was pounding with the most vicious headache I had ever experienced. Rubbing my temples, I struggled to sit up. I noticed Bower did not try to help me and I didn’t blame him. Somehow I had pulled him into that vision, but if I had not I wasn’t certain I would have been able to free myself. “I…I didn’t know Enric could do that.” I rubbed my arms. I was still chilled. “If I had known the king would be able to reach through to me…he knows where we are. He said so. Perhaps I should have flown off with Jaydra. At least then I wouldn’t be a danger to anyone.”
“Don’t apologize.” Bower groaned, stretched and rubbed the back of his neck. “I am not even sure Enric knew what he was doing. Remember how at the start he couldn’t see us? He might be just learning new magical skills. And we are stronger with you.”
“Our enemy is growing stronger as well.”
“Well, this might not be such bad tidings.” Slowly, Bower stood. He sat down again on one of the two wooden stools, his shoulders slumped.
“Bower, Enric reached into my mi
nd. How can I ever sleep again? And you should see how you look right now, with dark circles under your eyes and your face is…well, it’s probably whiter than mine. But…but…well, thank you. For saving me.”
Bower gave a tired smile. “It was Jaydra, not me. But think, for a moment—if the king is learning new tricks that means he doesn’t know everything. He hasn’t ever had to face anyone as powerful as you—and he hasn’t had to face dragons. He might be scared.”
“Might be? I can’t imagine Enric scared of anything. What if this happens again?”
Bower shook his head. “That we cannot allow. I think the answer is to use your connection to Jaydra. She can connect to your waking thoughts and your sleeping ones, too. I don’t really know how it works, but I think you need to stay closer to Jaydra than ever before.”
The thought of spending more time with Jaydra felt right…it felt comforting to me. Would Jaydra feel that way? “So you think the closer I am to the place where I and Jaydra are one, the further I move away from whatever connection I have with Enric?”
Bower yawned and rubbed his face as if to reassure himself that he was actually really here, or as if to keep himself awake. “It’s a guess, but it is all we have. And now, I do not feel much like sleeping, but I’m exhausted.”
“I know what you mean.” I stood and grabbed two blankets. “I also don’t feel much like staying inside.” Heading out, I led the way to where Jaydra lay. She cracked one eye open.
I greeted her warmly with my thoughts, weary, but infinitely glad she was here. She pressed her long, graceful snout against mine, and huffed a warm breath into my shoulder.
I was so scared, Jaydra. I didn’t know how to reach you.
Jaydra did not know how to reach Saffron either! Enric had you both hidden.
I handed a blanket to Bower and we both curled up under Jaydra’s wing. I’m sorry, sister, for drawing away from you after you told me you had a secret. I should have respected that. It was wrong of me to be upset.
That matters not. Jaydra sensed something beyond the shadow of the king. Dangerous powers are loose.
I nodded and glanced at Bower, who was clearly too exhausted to stay awake. He lay slumped against Jaydra’s the side.
Can you look after him? And me?
Jaydra closed her wing over us. Jaydra guards. Ysix guards, too, now. For all dragons know now to beware Enric.
Despite my fears, I pulled my blanket tight and fell asleep listening to Jaydra’s even breaths.
But I wondered how she had managed to tell all the dragons to guard us.
I woke to the sound of birdsong and crept out from under Jaydra’s wing. She was awake as well, and Bower was already up and heading back with two bowls of something steaming, and a bag of what smelled like fish slung over his shoulder. Jaydra sat up at the smell of fish. Bower handed me a bowl, offered Jaydra the fish and sat down next to her. The air had a chill to it and mists curled over the meadows. Cooking fires wove smoke into the air. Jaydra nosed the bag and soon was dragging fish out for her breakfast.
Staring at the porridge Bower had brought me, I couldn’t take my mind off of what had happened last night. Tired as I was, it felt as if we had turned a corner, faced a challenge and had won a small victory.
I still couldn’t take my mind off of what had happened.
Glancing at the hut, I told Bower, “I’m not sure I can ever go back in there.”
He nodded. “I don’t think we should. Enric may only have seen the inside of the hut. That may have been what he meant when he said he knew where you were.”
I shook my head. “No. I think he’s sending his army.”
Bower nodded. He frowned and stirred his porridge with a wooden spoon. “It was like a trap, that darkness. I think Enric had been waiting for a chance to try and catch you.”
I hunched a shoulder. “I hate the idea of him just out there, waiting for me to make a mistake.”
Bower ate some of his porridge. I couldn’t eat a bite. And then Bower said, “I think Enric needs your magic for some reason. Maybe his is running out, or maybe he wants to use your connection with dragons for something.”
I thought back to the dream. “Did it seem to you that Enric wasn’t really able to hide from us in that dream—that vision? He made himself seem…well, powerful, but I had a sense of something behind his anger. I felt fear coming from him—and it wrapped around me and became my fear.”
Looking up from his bowl, Bower frowned and asked, “What would scare an all-powerful sorcerer king who can enter sleeping minds and animate metal golems?”
Tapping my spoon against the porridge bowl, I asked, “What was that prophecy again—the one you told me about? Enric talked about it once, but I forgot some of it. Something about old and young. He thought he could use it to secure even more power.”
Bower put down his breakfast, cleared his throat, and began to recite in a clear, steady voice “‘Old and young will unite to rule the land from above. From the dragon’s breath comes the return of the True King. It will be his to rebuild the glory of Torvald.’ It’s the Salamander Prophecy—the rebels believe it foretells Enric’s downfall.”
“Maybe Enric is starting to believe you really are the True King,” I said.
Bower frowned. “He didn’t seem too convinced of that last night.”
“That was a trick, wasn’t it? He was acting tougher than he really is. Think about how, at the last battle, when we faced the Iron Guard, you summoned the Crimson Reds and they fought the king’s army. Enric must have seen that, or at least sensed it, through his Iron Guard. After all, if he can send his voice out through them, he probably uses them to see what they see. I think he’s starting to fear the prophecy is about to come true.”
Bower started to nod. “That would explain why he created that dream-trap or whatever it was. He wanted to use his connection to you to find out what you know—to learn how to defeat us.” Bower stood up. “We need to tell Ryland and get the Three-Rivers clan moving. The river and that narrow bridge won’t protect them from whatever dark magic Enric has planned.”
I knew that much. Shaking my head as I stood, I told Bower, “I can’t see a settlement being able to pack up in just a few days. And there is so much training needed before our dragons and riders are ready to head into battle.”
“We’ll just have to train more on the move. And I think we need to throw a few problems in the way of the king’s army. We’ll see if Ysix and her brood can act as scouts—and they can also set up a few traps for the army. Block paths by felling trees, and even start a few fires that will put the army in trouble. We need time, and that means we have to create it.” He turned and headed for the center of the settlement, calling back to me, “Get the warriors on their dragons. It’s going to be a busy day.”
Glancing at Jaydra, we swapped amused stares. Bower had sounded for once like a true leader.
I put a hand on Jaydra’s neck and stared at the hut where I’d had that horrible dream.
You know what, Enric? You were wrong. Bower isn’t weak. He may not be the tallest, or the broadest, or the best fighter, but he is strong in a way you will never understand.
And I knew Bower was someone I would follow as my king.
It turned out I was right—it took four days to get the Three-Rivers clan ready to leave. A day was spent with them arguing in council—no one wanted to believe Enric’s magic made him powerful enough to get across the rivers that protected the clan. Finally, Ryland simply had the children come in and he asked the elders if they wished to risk these lives. Two days more of packing up supplies and belongings and at last they were ready to depart.
The elders, the youngest, and those who could care for them, would leave for the mountains to the north.
“We have caverns there where the clan will hide,” Ryland told me. “And the paths are so steep and hard, the Iron Guard will not be able to reach them.”
I hoped he was right.
While the Three-Rivers c
lan made ready to move to safety, Bower and I worked with their riders, but we soon found out it was best for the riders to simply learn from their dragons. Ysix was able to communicate a little with the Crimson Red dragons, and she got them to agree to go with the Three-Rivers clan to see them to safety. The reds actually knew the mountains even better than the clan.
Everything seemed set.
Ysix had had her brood flying watch, but had seen nothing of the king’s army or the Iron Guard. It was as if they had vanished. Some muttered this meant they had been beaten and retreated, but I kept thinking of how dragons could make themselves invisible. I feared the king might be able to do that with his forces.
Bower spoke about this to Ryland and it was agreed that all those able to ride a dragon would head to where the king’s army had last been seen. Ysix and her brood would come with us. We hoped we would find nothing—but at the very least this would be more good training for the new dragon riders.
With that in mind, we parted company with the Three-Rivers clan. Ryland’s people cried to see him and the other riders take to the sky. A few pressed bread and fish on us to keep us provisioned. Jaydra, wearing a new dragon harness which seemed to please her a great deal, given that it was made of a dark-green leather and decorated with fringe, gave a roar and leapt into the air.
We had been flying most of the day, using the gorges and deep valleys of the mountains to help the new riders become better acquainted with their dragons, and their dragons with their riders. We needed much more training very quickly. We also searched for sign of the king’s army.
That many men had to leave traces—trees hacked down, or fires lit, or some sign upon the land. We had seen nothing, and my eyes were growing tired. The wind and sun had stung my cheeks, and I was about to suggest we land and make camp for the night when one of Ysix’s brood made a strange, gargled noise.
“Verkaia?” I shouted, calling to the youngest of Ysix’s brood.
Jaydra threw us into a tight turn that made my stomach churn. It churned even more when I saw a black shape like a huge arrow sticking out of the dragon’s side.
Dragons of Kings (Upon Dragon's Breath Trilogy Book 2) Page 19