I first had to try manipulating my prana… Ah, so that’s what had been missing. Well, “missing” was the wrong word. “Out-of-reach” fit what I sensed better. My soul’s ears heard the rushing river of prana still in my real body, but my dream self could not fathom how to reunite with that part of me. There had to be a way. I sat against a small, three branch tree, telling myself to keep trying to somehow “feel” my way out.
So I sat and sat, endeavoring to cast my illusion spell as my stomach continued to growl louder and sicker. When I grew frustrated by that method, I next attempted to run and jump around, trusting my prana to return to my legs on instinct. Then I punched the blasted silence. Then I retried those methods in different order… Then in the same order…
Nothing.
The place was becoming stranger. Sometimes my skin moistened from sweat. Seconds later and it’d be dry to the point of relentless itchiness. My left arm suffered the most irritation… That’s right. The fiend’s tail. My corruption. Merely remembering it roiled the depraved power in its cage, a cage longing for a key. Did my corruption feel as suffocated as I did? What a cruel fate. Was it wrong to hand it freedom? It would surely free me in return, no? What if I merely touched the cage? How would that even go?
I closed my eyes, directing what indefinable power I had to the thumping cage under my slower thumping heart. I pulled my conscious closer to the nebulous confine. My eyes shut tighter when a magnificently bright light smacked my eyelids. Almost throwing me off my feet, a wailing tsunami of wind slammed against me and the splintering woods. Putting my hand in front of me, I fought against the bracing brilliance and opened my eyelids to a squint.
The radiance and wind receded, though only to the point that blindness and instability didn’t instantly befall me. Just as I took a step forward, another blazing beam of radiance struck me, followed by another gusting pulse instants later. Each wasn’t as powerful as the first incidents, but without prana to steady me, both cases terrified me. I moved another step during the fleeting lull and waited to see if the pattern repeated itself.
It did.
I thus planned my own pattern of taking a lunging step between the pulses. I stopped after ten of them, believing my eyes could now handle even the strongest light and earn a glimpse of whatever had entered this dream world.
What I saw was a sphere twice as tall as myself and spinning five feet away. White light made up half the shell and an all-consuming darkness shaded its other side. Despite the extraordinary intensity of each contrast, a darkened outline of a tall skeletal figure could still be perceived. Its form fed the darkness and the holy prana making up the restraints supplied the light. Every outburst of wind came from the sphere completing a rotation.
At the same time I did so, the captive prana extended its arm. I took two strides forward when the chances arose, bringing my fingers an inch from the rounded dungeon. My yearning to pull my corrupted spirit waned every time the light swathed me in its impenetrable cocoon. During one of these cases of clarity, the idea that my corruption was taking advantage of the situation wormed its way to the forefront of my besieged reason.
How many existences made their home inside of me? A fiend’s corruption. An Alslana queen’s holy prana. A dragon’s. My own pathetic power. And now Gremly pulled me where it wanted to go. No matter, I couldn’t let a fiend’s power take advantage of me when all its racket gave me the opportunity to exploit my boon. Timing it carefully, I waited for the dark side of the shell to pass before tapping the pure side of the sphere.
I sat up and gasped as the thrilling tremor of cogent holy prana jolted me awake. I panted a foul smelling breath as I tried assessing where in the fuck I was this time. To my right, Ghevont, resting on both knees, pulled back his hands, an orangish light fading from them.
“What’s my name?” I asked him.
“Oh, well, you have several names. Which one-”
“Okay, that’s a good start. You there, Aranath?”
“Welcome back, boy.”
“I hope so.” I reached for my waterskin, drank from it, spit half of it back out, and looked up to get a sense of the sky’s clock. The brightest gloom the forest could achieve informed me it was mid-afternoon. “How long?”
“Two days,” answered Ghevont. “Another day would have forced me to take more drastic measures to stimulate you to consciousness.”
“What non-drastic measures did you take?”
“I could do little on my own after realizing you weren’t going to wake up with standard methods. My cognitive spells only bounced off you! Fire and electric spells also did little to inspire your waking.”
“Wait, you burned and shocked me?”
“Er, yes. Just a little on your lower leg. The right one. The four marks should heal within two weeks with the aid of salves I carry.”
“I don’t want to imagine your drastic measures. Anyway, what then?”
“Ah, yes. It wasn’t until I spoke with Aranath did we combine our efforts to rouse you. However, even our combined prana did not have an effect. You appeared destined to waste away in sleep, but then I had a revelation! If Gremly was employing a sleeping spell, then I would apply one of my own. I instructed Aranath to weaken Gremly’s spell as much as possible while I attempted to subvert it from the inside out!”
“Okay. I guess that’s when I started dreaming.”
“What did it look like?”
I flicked my hand toward the woods. “Like this. You were there for a bit, but you vanished when I realized everything was false. I couldn’t cast spells or talk to Aranath. Eating and drinking also didn’t feel right.”
“You couldn’t cast spells in the dream? Then how did you escape?”
“I couldn’t cast spells with my prana, so I brought up, uh, someone else’s.”
“Ah, the holy seal.”
“Yes. I touched its shell. That did it.”
“Good thinking. Without prana to resist the spell, you would have been stuck without more external support.”
“Well, thanks for giving me what you could. So, you’ve been awake this whole time?”
“I couldn’t risk succumbing to the same state as you.”
“How do you feel?”
“Quite weary, of course, but no worse for wear, as they say. I’ve done experiments to see how long I can stay awake and competent. Three and a half days is the answer. Any longer and, and…” He yawned.
I stood up and slapped his shoulder. “Let’s get out of this godsforsaken place. You ready, Aranath?”
A content growl. “A benefit of your forced repose is that I have the physical energy to fly us out of Gremly in a single summon. Make certain to keep the scholar awake until we reach the thinner mist. He may resist the spell better than you while awake, but will stand less of a chance than you while asleep.”
To that end, I said, “Ghevont, we’ve yet to discuss what we saw deeper in Gremly. Do you think it was a crater?”
As expected, the scholar began a tangent of theory and speculation about the enormous crater and roots we witnessed. His guesswork on the reputed crater ranged from an eidolon home to an ancient caldera. The roots intrigued him more. How did they get so large? What did they lead to? A gigantic tree? Or was the crater like a colossal bowl of noodles? Were these roots the source of the mist? Was there more than one crater?
He did not sound drowsy until an hour later, though his mouth pressed on for another thirty minutes before respite became an obligation. Luckily, entering the wispier mist happened not long afterward. Minutes after that and Ghevont gained sporadic moments of sleep during the smoother portions of the flight.
Five years, Ghevont. Five years.
Chapter Nine
A day after leaving Gremly, an Oclor army far below marched southward. An hour behind them marched a smaller force. The war on land appeared to be coming to a close. My ego said news of a dragon knight convinced everyone to go home, but I had a hunch that Eudon must have returned to Ecrin. I had
hoped to avoid him, since I knew he would want to join me in my nismerdon hunt. While I welcomed his skill, the weight of responsibility I would feel from three daughters wouldn’t get Aranath off the ground. Gods help me.
The last of Aranath’s glides brought us in front of the palace gates, leaving no doubt who was returning. We landed right between lunch and supper, but I figured going right to the guest kitchen would get me and the scholar something to eat.
We caught two dozen servants finishing their late lunch. They wanted to make us a proper meal, but I assured them that their leftovers of chicken and pork would be more than acceptable. They looked amazed that we ate with them in the servant’s dining hall, and though I spoke little, Ghevont, in his own way, delighted them with a few of our ventures.
Two bites away from pulling the final morsel of meat from my last chicken bone, the servants went silent and rose to their feet to bow. Behind me, Odet said, “A dragon knight should know not to have his back against a door or window.”
I leveled my head to look at Odet’s reflection in a row of silver platters erect on a shelf. It showed her wearing a rather delicate looking purple dress with puffy shoulders. “And a princess should know that shiny things can give a dragon knight more than two eyes.”
“Welcome back, Mercer. Ghevont.”
“A pleasure to be back with a whole mind,” said Ghevont.
To the servants, Odet said, “Please, I’d like to speak with the dragon knight and the scholar in private before the rest of my family comes barging in.” They bowed again and filed out one of three doors available to them. Taking a chair on my side of the table, she said, “Since you didn’t come straight to the throne room, I’m assuming there’s no giant in Gremly.”
“We couldn’t get to the center, but it’s safe to assume no weakened giant would pick such a place to recover. Now, allow me to assume your father is here.”
“Yes. He came on a turtusk a day before the ships themselves docked. His foot is nursing the sting of a jellyfish, of all things, but he’s otherwise fine. He’ll be eager to meet Aranath, if he ever awakens from his nap, that is.”
“Is Clarissa in the palace?”
“Ah, Clarissa. Yes. She left soon after you did to be with Ethan, but she anticipated your return and has been waiting here the past two days. Master scholar, will you inform the vampire that her friends have returned?”
“Oh, of course, right away.”
“Take your time. She should be sleeping upstairs.” Not waiting for the scholar to leave, she crossed her arms and said, “Clarissa said something that upset me, Mercer.”
“Did she want some of your blood?”
Her ponytail swayed behind her shaking head. “You pick odd times to jest.”
“Agree to disagree.”
“I’m serious, Mercer. Why did I have to hear about your brother from Clarissa and not you?”
“Oh, well, last I checked, you’re not familiar with my brother. Neither am I for that matter.”
“That’s not a reason. Tell me, was it a deliberate decision to keep it a secret from me?”
“Uh, a little, but I’m gonna be honest here, I figured Clarissa would tell you and that’d be that. I don’t understand why you’d be upset.”
“Because I can help him! Didn’t you think of that possibility? I helped you, didn’t I?”
“You mean sealing my corruption? Strictly speaking, your grandmother’s prana and Aranath helped me. You don’t have the skill to purify corruption yourself.”
“Not yet, but if I train Mytariss’ shield against your dragon’s flame, then I’m certain progress can be made far quicker than on my own.”
“We don’t have the time.”
“We’ll have weeks and weeks if I go with you.”
“Wait, are you trying to use my brother’s condition to justify you joining me?”
“You make it sound like I’m extorting you. You should want your brother purified. Not many people in this world have the potential to accomplish that.”
“And I’ll be sure to bring my brother to you when I find him.”
“And if he runs out of time? What then? Can you look your father in the eyes and tell him you had a chance to save his son by bringing me?”
“What will I tell yours if you die? Your sisters? An entire kingdom? He may be my brother, but I’d sooner run a sword through him for what he did to Clarissa than chance you losing a hair off your head.”
Her agitation pushed her off her seat. “I realize it’s a risk, but do you think I’m just going to rest on my laurels now that Father is here? You once told me I’m wasted stuck in the palace. Or did you forget saying I should be a traveling minstrel? Or be out leading an army? You even said you wouldn’t mind if I joined you in the Hadarii. I took what you said to heart, Mercer. ‘Finally!’ I thought, ‘Someone telling me I could do more in the world by actually living in it.’ Or was all that horseshit?”
I couldn’t help cracking a half grin when hearing the expletive. She even made vulgarity sound dignified. I lowered my head to hide my flippant reaction to her earnest plea. “No, princess, I swear I meant every word.” I lifted my head. “No one who knows you can doubt that you’re as much a warrior as your father. And I don’t doubt training together will lead to results that will make each of us stronger.”
“Then why do you doubt?”
“Because the Advent will recognize what everyone else can plainly see in you. They will treat you as great a threat as they treat me, and people stronger than us have died from weaker enemies. I’m half a whim away from forbidding Clarissa to join me, but since that would ruin the dearest friendship I have, I resist, if just barely.”
“And you don’t worry that our own friendship will be ruined?”
“No.”
“You sound so sure.”
“Apart from not giving me any hints that you’d go so far as friendship breaking, I think you do understand my side of things. You’ll be angry, sure, but I’ll be gone long enough for you to ultimately respect my choice.”
“You should try being a seer if you trust your foresight that much.”
“I assume being a seer was my childhood calling.”
“Hmm, self-deprecating dark humor. That’s a new one from you.”
“Not in my own head.”
She sat on a seat farther than the one before. “Well, I do understand your side of things. No one wants to be responsible for failing to protect their friends. But if you and I can become stronger, then we stand a better chance at protecting those we care about. With Mother gone, so is Mytariss’ power. I aim to bring her back and give Beatrice and Alslana peace of mind. Perhaps not for the short-term, but surely for beyond. Then I can help your family in return. I will help purify one brother and help the other shed his crystals. No proper dragon knight should be shuddering after using their power.”
“She has a point,” said Aranath.
Ignoring the dragon, I said, “I’m guessing you haven’t spoken to your father about your desire to join me.”
“Oh, uh, no, not in great length… or at all.”
“Tell you what, convince him that taking you with me is a good idea and I’ll begin to ponder your aspiration.”
“I’d rather convince you now.”
“Too late.”
My head gestured toward the silver platters. She looked at them to see the darting image of a girl heading for the open entrance. Behind her sprinted Bell and Gerard. Clarissa and Ghevont followed with less rushed steps. I brought everyone up to speed in a couple of sentences while Ghevont used several more. I told him beforehand to not mention my two-day unconscious incident. He obliged.
A little later, the unarguable excuse that I was tired from traveling permitted me to seek serene isolation in the baths and then on my bed. I knew I had to be at my most rested if I wanted to repel another of Odet’s sensible arguments. Or should I repel her? Her persuasive tone still argued her points in my head as I lay on my back.
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br /> Finally, I clasped the hilt leaning on the bed and asked, “You think I should bring her, don’t you?”
He grunted. “It’s not often a Veknu Milaris’ flame can train against an eidolon’s power, particularly one that complements the Draceran training technique.”
“Her father is stronger.”
“But he is no valkrean. There are only ten others in Orda whose potential is as great as her own. Nine are those who are able to summon the eidolons who serve the remaining gods of duality. The tenth is yourself. However, like yourself, her lack of true experience is a concern, so I will not protest if you choose to bring Eudon’s bow.”
“But if it were up to you…”
“Yes, the girl would be my choice. The former king’s sparring style does not improve the most imperative aspects of your training. Indeed, even sparring to train the body leads to little progress when he is but a stone wall to you. You need warriors at your tier to truly develop mind and body. I also trust her judgment more than her parent.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I do not believe it to be a pronounced concern, but between father and daughter, I expect the father to act more independently.”
“That’s part of the reason he makes more sense.”
“In part. As I said, it is not a pronounced concern, but which human do you trust more to act sensibly if they see the Advent who killed their matriarch? Who do you trust more to listen to your reasoning in the heat of a fight? The young do not often enjoy following the advice of their elders, but the opposite is a stronger truth. Regardless, none of that matters if fear for the girl’s safety dictates your actions on the field of battle. If this is what you expect, do not take the girl.”
“Well, since Eudon won’t agree to let her go, there’s no point mulling it over.”
A grumbling growl. “It’s your decision, boy. Do not pretend otherwise. Acknowledge your misgivings. Mortals are expected to have several.”
I let go of the hilt, my misgivings confusing me almost as much as Gremly did.
The Dragon Knight's Soul (The Dragon Knight Series Book 4) Page 9