by Keri Arthur
As my gaze followed the crack over the curve of the coruscation, a memory stirred. One of blue skies viewed through ragged edges of ice. Of the caress of power—perhaps even magic—in my mind and body, a power that protected both even as it restrained. I remembered the caress of sunlight and heat slowly melting the imprisoning ice, and then a jolt as it fell away and gave me freedom. That’s when I’d fallen, a cry on my lips and agony ringing in my ears and mind. But that agony was itself little more than a memory—a brief echo from the moment before magic and ice had frozen all hope. Emri hadn’t come to life as I had. She remained frozen deeper within the coruscation.
Could we apply the same sort of slow melt process to rescue Sorrel, Emri, and what remained of the graces?
I hoped so. But to even attempt it, we had to get the coruscation to a far safer place.
“We have to get down there—”
“Not until we know what the Mareritt are up to.” Kaiden pointed to the road that ran around the boundary of the lake. There were three people movers on it and one division of foot soldiers doing a double-time march. “They’re definitely retreating.”
The inner uneasiness ramped up. “It could be some sort of trap—maybe they’re withdrawing enough troops in the hope we’ll risk going down there.”
“It’s a possibility.”
“But not what you think is happening.”
“After what we did to the checkpoints, they should be reinforcing, not retreating. Besides, if they were going to set a trap, they would have done it by now. The valley is far too open, and they’re all too exposed.”
“So are we once we get off this section of mountain.” My gaze followed the retreating Mareritt. This wasn’t a trap. This wasn’t the Mareritt being recalled into other positions. Something else was going on. “Maybe they’ve brought in tanks or some kind of long-range weapon and want their men out of the way.”
“Could be. Can you ask Oma to do a sweep?”
I immediately did so, then added, Is the other drakkon still patrolling?
Has left.
Did she say why?
Ordered out.
The unease became full-blown fear. My gaze went to the coruscation, and a thick lump formed in my throat. Oma, fly away from the moon. Fast.
Her thoughts gained height and distance, but that thick lump of fear increased until every breath was short, sharp pants.
“Red?” Kaiden voice seemed to be coming from a great distance. “Nara, what’s wrong? What’s happening?”
I couldn’t answer him. I could only stare across the long length of the valley toward whatever point the Mareritt were retreating to.
That’s when I saw it.
The arc of light. Not one. Not two, but five deadly streams.
They weren’t incoming artillery shells. They were something else; something that cut through the air, leaving a frozen tail streaming behind it even as it propelled the round, glowing object at the nose forward.
They moved in utter silence, a force of destruction that hit the coruscation with deadly accuracy.
For a second, nothing happened. The glowing objects were simply absorbed into the coruscation.
Then, with little noise or fanfare, the coruscation exploded.
Between one heartbeat and the next, every hope I’d had and everything I’d ever known became little more than a million tiny shards of glittering, silvery blue ice that drifted gently on the breeze.
Eight
For several heartbeats, I could only stare at the spot where the coruscation had been.
Emri.
Gone forever.
Sorrel, as dead as those who lay far in the past.
The beauty of graces soaring through blue skies now forever nothing more than a memory.
Any hope Arleeon might have had of redemption via drakkon wing splintered into minute shards of icy destruction.
Horror surged and the shaking began. Pain hit—deep, utter, mind-destroying pain.
A scream tore through me, a scream that was soul deep and endless. I had no idea whether I gave it voice or if it remained locked inside, echoing through the void that had once contained the other half of my soul.
I could hear voices. Distant voices. Voices I recognized, voices I trusted, but they held no power and absolutely no means to call me back from the brink. I tumbled into utter darkness, blind and unresponsive, wanting death. Needing death.
But she refused to heed my call.
Consciousness returned in fragments as small as the ice that had shattered both my heart and my soul.
A murmur within, offering strength.
A murmur without, asking for courage. Telling me not to abandon those who yet remained.
Stone against my back. Heat surrounding me, warming skin as cold as death.
The musk of a drakkon. The earthy scent of a man.
Life, when all I wanted was death. But for whatever reason, she was not yet mine to hold.
I climbed the few final steps to full consciousness and opened my eyes. I lay in a vast cavern. Stalactites glittered high above, and somewhere in the distance water trickled, a merry sound in the deep silence that otherwise dominated. A sleeping roll padded the stone slab underneath me, and a second one covered me.
Kaiden stood to my right, his arms crossed and one shoulder resting against the edge of the cavern’s entrance. A thick beard covered his chin, and his face was set in stony despair. Beyond him, stars twinkled, bright in black skies.
To my left, her bulk dominating much of the cavern's rear and with her head tucked under her tail, was Oma. Her eyes were closed and her mind silent aside from drifting dreams of flaming Mareritten. It was her body heat I’d been feeling.
Somehow, these two had called me back from darkness and insanity. It shouldn’t have been possible. History—and to some extent, experience via friends who'd suffered similar losses—had taught me that when a drakkon or her rider was killed, death soon took the remaining partner. Our lives and our minds were too entwined to survive the erasure of one.
I should be dead.
And yet, despite the thick fist of despair and emptiness that sat like a weight in the middle of my chest, I wasn’t sorry to be here. Wasn’t sorry to still be alive.
I had no hope of vengeance if death had heeded my call.
“How long have I been out?” It came out little more than a vague croak; my throat was raw, and every word burned. My screams obviously hadn’t been just internal.
Kaiden swung around, the force of his relief so fierce it had tears rising. I blinked them away as he strode over and squatted beside my makeshift bed.
“How are you feeling?” His voice was soft, barely reaching my ears despite his closeness.
I wasn’t sure if he simply didn’t want to wake Oma or if perhaps he feared I was still so fragile that any undue noise might cause me to slip back.
“Like my heart has been torn out of my chest and thrown away.” Grief rose, a thick wave that closed my throat and had me battling tears. There was nothing I could do for my sister now. Nothing I could do for Emri. Nothing except give them revenge. It wouldn’t ease the pain, but it at least gave me a reason to continue on. To resist the urge to just give up and join them. “Why would they destroy the coruscation like that after leaving it to melt for so long?”
“I don’t know.” His expression was grim. “But perhaps they suspect you came from it and wanted to ensure no others could be released.”
Despair pulsed, a wave of darkness threatening to wash me away again. I blinked back the tears and the pain and said, “Which makes sense, but why wait two hundred years to do so? Why not simply destroy the coruscations the minute they’d trapped us all?”
“Perhaps they couldn’t,” he said. “Perhaps they’ve only just developed the means and the power to do so.”
“But—” I paused and swallowed again. In the end, understanding their actions didn’t matter. Only getting revenge did. “And the things that destroyed it? Have yo
u ever seen missiles like that before?”
“No.”
“Meaning that could be what they’re developing in the White Zone.” Not another coruscation but a weapon that was powerful enough to erase one—and no doubt everything else that stood in their way.
His hand touched mine—a brief but comforting caress, and one I wasn’t entirely sure was meant for me but rather for him. “We can’t discount the possibility they’re creating another coruscation just yet, but those ice missiles are not a good development. Do you want a drink?”
“Yes. Thanks.”
He rose and moved across to a portable cooking unit on the other side of the cavern. A small but lightly steaming pot sat on the top. He scooped up some of the contents with a metal cup, topped it up with fresh water, and then walked back.
“Can you sit up? Or do you want help?”
“I can sit.” I pushed upright and then scooted back so my spine was pressed against the wall. The effort left me trembling.
Kaiden held the cup close to my lips. It smelled of grass and an assortment of other herbs, and I sipped it somewhat warily. There was obviously some sort of numbing agent in the concoction because my throat instantly felt better. I drank the rest of it and then leaned my head against the cavern wall and briefly closed my eyes.
“How long was I out?” I asked again.
“Just over a week.”
I stared at him, unable to comprehend. A week? How was that even possible given the hunt that must have followed the destruction of the coruscation?
It was a thought that had the thick knot of grief stirring, but that was a hole I couldn’t afford to fall down. Not again. I couldn’t change what had happened, but I could certainly change this world.
Or, at least, attempt to.
And while that would never ease the knot or the pain, it would at least make living with it all that much easier.
“But haven't the Mareritt been searching for us?”
“Yes.” He took my hand, his fingers warm as they twined through mine. “But we remain free thanks to a whole lot of help from Oma and a thick slab of luck.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning she dropped from the sky the minute you collapsed and carried you away from the valley. She found this cavern, stashed you, and then came back for me. Aside from one hunt, she hasn’t moved from your side.”
Because she was giving me her heat and her strength. Urging me not to give up, to come back, because the drakkons of this time needed me. Because she needed me. I wanted to reach out and touch her, thank her, but didn’t. I could feel the underlying tiredness in her now; she needed to rest and recover after giving so much to me.
I returned my gaze to Kaiden. “We owe her our lives. Again.”
“Yes. And I have a newfound respect for kin after being carried by a drakkon. Man was not meant to be borne aloft, especially when it’s in the claws of a drakkon rather than on her back.”
A smile touched my lips, as he no doubt intended. “How far did she carry us?”
“Across to the Balkain Mountain range. This cave is very near the Black River tunnel, in fact.”
Which was a good distance for a drakkon her size, especially when she was unused to carrying anyone. Even full-sized drakkons didn’t lift kin until they were at least twenty years old—which was why most bonds were formed after drakkons had reached that age.
“I’m surprised the Mareritt didn't immediately flood West Laminium with drakkons. It would have stopped Oma getting us out.”
“They couldn’t—”
“Why not? Surely they would have had spotters out after the explosion—”
“Which rained deadly shards of ice—and, I presume, whatever magic remained within the coruscation—into the entire valley for close to an hour. We were high enough to avoid it, and it allowed Oma to sweep in and out without being seen.”
If we were above it, then it surely wouldn't have affected the other drakkons. But maybe the Mareritt simply didn't want to risk it; maybe they had no idea just what the aftereffects of exploding the magic encased coruscation would be. It had, after all, been created two hundred years ago, and they apparently hadn't tried to replicate the spell since.
Or was it more the fact that they couldn’t?
I took a deep breath that did little to ease the ache inside—an ache I would feel for the rest of my life. “What are the Mareritt doing now?”
“Swarming through Arleeon.” He grimaced. “We can't risk contacting anyone for help, which basically leaves us with little choice but to chance the tunnel.”
“That tunnel is probably an even bigger risk now—especially if they're pouring soldiers into Arleeon.”
“You're forgetting eight days have passed. The only traffic coming through the tunnel at the moment is supply trains and the occasional scooter.”
I grunted. I remained unconvinced it was the best option, but it was pointless going against his advice now. “I take it this cavern is another the rebellion uses?”
“No, but there is one a half a day run from here. Once the focus had shifted from the immediate area and Oma had fed, I was able to go and grab enough supplies to get us through.”
“What about a scooter?”
“That we’ll have to purloin once you’re fit enough to move.”
“But every second we spend here is one more they have to find us.”
“I know.”
“And don’t care.”
“Indeed.” He reached out with his free hand and brushed stray strands of hair from my cheek. There was gentleness in his caress and caring in his eyes. “Right now, nothing is more important than you regaining strength. Arleeon’s soul depends on it.”
Mine depends on it. He didn’t add that, but it seemed to hover between us anyway.
It was then I noticed the echo of pain in his eyes. My pain. He might not have known Emri, but he’d nevertheless felt the agony of her death thanks to the growing connection between us.
I didn’t say anything. I just tugged him closer and kissed him. Not sweetly, not softly, but with all the hunger of someone who’d stepped into the arms of death and yet was somehow still alive. His hand slipped to the back of my neck, holding me steady as the kiss deepened; for many minutes there was nothing but his lips and the passion that rose like a bonfire between us.
When he finally pulled back, his eyes were aglow with desire. “As much as I want, with every inch of my body, to take this further, you need to rest and regain strength.”
A smile tugged at my lips. While I wanted nothing more than to celebrate being alive in the most basic way possible, he was right. Getting to Esan would take a lot of time, luck, and no doubt fire strength. If we wanted any hope of freeing Arleeon and her drakkons, we both needed to be in peak condition. And that unfortunately meant sex would have to wait until a more appropriate time and place.
“I don’t suppose you have anything more substantial to eat than that grassy concoction you just gave me?”
“We have reconstituted soup, cheese, or some kind of flatbread that is doing a good impression of thin rock.”
I snorted softly. “I think I’ll stick to the soup.”
He nodded and rose. I drifted off to sleep for a time, woke long enough to eat the soup, and then drifted back. That was basically the pattern of the next few days. Oma remained asleep, which wasn’t unusual for a drakkon who’d expended a great amount of energy.
Dawn was just breaking across the skies outside when the awareness of being watched hit. Kaiden’s body was pressed against mine, his heat stirring the distant embers of desire. But he wasn’t the one watching me—he was asleep, his soft snores echoing through the cavern’s vastness.
I smiled and carefully moved a hand from under the sleeping roll. Oma stretched her neck and presented an eye ridge for me to scratch. Delight rumbled through her thoughts when I complied.
You awake. Am happy.
I’m awake because of you. I owe you my life, Oma.
/> You free me. Right I save you. She hesitated. Emri gone.
That fist tightened. I blinked and nodded. Yes.
Am sorry.
So am I. I would have liked you to have met her.
Mareritt pay?
Indeed they will.
Another happy rumble ran through her thoughts. Now?
No. We need to get to Esan first.
Esan?
The fortress where Kaiden lives.
Why?
Because we need them to find a way of blocking the control bands the Mareritt use on the drakkons. If we can, they would no longer control any of you.
That good aim. We go now?
I couldn’t help my chuckle. Though it was soft, Kaiden stirred and his arm snaked around my waist. “What’s funny?”
His voice was a warm mix of sleepiness and desire, but he did no more than hold me close. “I told Oma why we needed to get to Esan, and she’s now eager to move.”
“We can’t go anywhere until we know it’s safe.” He kissed my shoulder, then got up and padded barefoot across to the cavern’s entrance. Dawn’s light lovingly caressed the muscular planes of his upper body, making my fingers itch with the longing to do the same. After several minutes, he said, “The coast appears to be clear, but it might be wise for Oma to do a quick sweep before we leave our hideout.”
Oma grunted and climbed to her feet, being careful to tuck her wings back so she didn’t accidentally hit me. Will fly now.
Kaiden backed away to give her room. Once at the entrance, she crouched low and then jumped high, her wings pumping hard as she slowly climbed and disappeared from sight. I got out of bed and padded across the cavern, following the gentle sound of tumbling water until I found the stream. It was icy cold but better that than not bathing at all. To say I stunk would be something of an understatement.