Dragon's Eye

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Dragon's Eye Page 24

by Robin Wirth


  arrange a meeting at this time, and in this place,”

  the dragoness intoned. She waved her arms in a

  broad circle, ending by pointing up at the sky.

  “You were meant to be here on this, the five

  thousandth anniversary of my departure from

  your world.”

  “Has it truly been so long?” Felicity

  asked sympathetically.

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  “Yes, it has,” she said with a sage nod.

  “But for me, time has been standing still till this

  very moment. To me, it has not seemed so long.”

  “So much has changed in this world

  since then,” Felicity said. “It would hardly seem

  like the same place to you now.”

  Amaranth nodded, grateful for the

  human’s concern. She motioned for them to

  each stand to one side or the other of the altar

  upon which the Grimoire sat, and then the two

  noticed that the two halves of the eye were

  placed on either side of the book as well.

  “The words in this book are dragon

  words,” she explained. “However, anyone

  reading them will be able to understand them if

  they are truly meant to see. I do not know which

  of you is meant to read them, however.”

  “What do you mean?” Lance inquired

  with surprise. “I had thought, since you believe

  Felicity to be dragon-born, that the choice was

  already made.”

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  “As did I,” she conceded. “But I sense a

  most unusual energy about you as well, Lancelot

  Jones. The book does not call out just to the girl,

  but to the both of you, together.”

  “I don’t understand,” he said.

  Trance-like, Amaranth continued, “The

  two of you present a great puzzle to me. So very

  different, and yet so much a part of each other.

  You are yin and yang, personified. You, man,

  you are darkness within yet golden without. You

  have seen hell and managed to return, though not

  unscathed from your ordeal. Your heart is pure

  in a way I have never seen before, such an odd

  mixture of chivalry and naughtiness as cannot be

  explained.”

  Lancelot blushed and smirked at this.

  “You, girl, have lightness within and yet

  hide it behind a shield of sorts, so that it cannot

  shine too brightly. You also have known much

  pain, yet it does not seem to touch you within.

  You have a power that is unmatched by anyone

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  I have ever known. I cannot say which of you

  are the true champion. The choice must be your

  own.”

  Lance and Felicity were both easily

  within reach of the book. The moon was nearing

  the center of the opening above. They stared at

  Amaranth, and then at each other. Both of them

  felt the urge to move, yet neither one took a step.

  “I know the answer, Lance,” said

  Felicity finally as she looked up into his eyes.

  “Neither one of us is the true champion. We are

  yin and yang, just as Amaranth has said. We are

  meant do the thing together.”

  Amaranth glanced up in surprise but held

  her

  tongue.

  She

  looked

  at

  Lancelot

  questioningly. His eyes widened in surprise, and

  then lit up with understanding.

  “Yes, I believe you are right, my dear,”

  he agreed as he held out his hand for Felicity to

  take.

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  Each of them took one half of the eye in

  their other hands, and held the pieces aloft above

  the Grimoire. Then they looked into the book,

  and neither one faltered as they easily read the

  words.

  “Tol loft norta, garr nag ortha! Nek!”

  A golden light encircled them. It was

  arcing around from one half of the orb to the

  other. Brighter and brighter it shone until the

  very walls of the cavern began to shake from its

  power.

  “Get out of here, all of you!” Amaranth

  shouted to the throng of dragons who began to

  panic at the sound.

  Large boulders began to fall as they

  flapped their wings to fly away, or simply ran in

  all directions. With a quickness they headed for

  the exit, but those who went that way quickly

  realized their mistake as the cave collapsed

  around them.

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  “You must leave the mountain!” shouted

  Amaranth to those dragons who remained. “Find

  any way out that you can. Hurry!”

  Only the two humans and the dragoness

  stood their ground. Even when the floor beneath

  their feet split in twain, Lance and Felicity held

  tight to each other’s hands and held onto the

  shards.

  When the ceiling cracked and even

  larger rocks began to fall, Amaranth surged

  forward and grabbed the Grimoire and the

  humans in her arms and carried them with her as

  she flapped her wings hard, making for the hole

  through which the moon itself had shone.

  The opening was not nearly as large as

  she would like, so with a sharp intake of air, she

  belched forth a stream of flames. She kicked at

  the superheated rock with her feet, shattering the

  stone and bursting free, carrying them all to

  safety in the grotto beyond.

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  Lance and Felicity fell together as the

  princess tripped over an outcropping rock and

  tumbled to the ground. They rolled down to the

  bottom along with her, and as they landed they

  realized they were clinging to one healed orb

  instead of the two broken pieces.

  They both released it at the same time,

  and the eye floated into the air for a moment,

  hovering. Amaranth reached a claw upwards,

  and the orb shrank as it plunged down and

  alighted in the middle of her forehead, searing

  its way into the flesh.

  Her lovely golden scales began to glow,

  and then they turned bronze in color as she

  shape-shifted into a beautiful woman with long,

  golden hair.

  Lance smirked and winked at Felicity as

  they looked at her, and she elbowed him right in

  his ribs.

  “Ouch!” he grumbled. “I didn’t do

  anything.”

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  “Silly woman,” said the princess with a

  laugh as she got to her feet and dusted herself

  off. “Don’t you know that the two of you could

  never have performed that spell together if he

  didn’t love you with all his heart?”

  “Of course I do,” Felicity chuckled. “I

  just like picking on him. I guess it’s a human

  thing.”

  “I see,” she said with a furrowed brow.

  “I fear I have never understood such nonsensical

/>   things. However, as the two of you have won the

  book, and as I am its protector, there are now

  some decisions that must be made. But first, we

  must gather together the remnants of my people

  before we proceed.”

  Returning to dragon form, Amaranth

  surged up into the sky and called out. One by

  one, and then several at a time, many dragons

  came to her call. Though not nearly the number

  of creatures as those who had occupied the cave.

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  THIRTY-SEVEN

  The top of the mountain continued to

  spew forth radiant energy as Lancelot and

  Felicity watched. At first, both of them had felt

  a tiredness bordering on sleep, but they were too

  filled with energy themselves to succumb to it.

  Looking out over the remains of her

  people, Amaranth gave a dejected sigh. “Once

  upon a time, I had a great house. Our number

  was two thousand strong,” she said to the

  humans at her side. “Now, it looks more like two

  hundred, give or take a few souls one way or the

  other. And now, none of us has a place to call

  home.”

  “I am so sorry for your loss,” Felicity

  told her gently as she came to stand by her side.

  She laid a hand upon her side, much as one

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  might comfort their mount in a time of stress. “Is

  there any way that we can help?”

  “As I have said before, I am the protector

  of the Grimoire Draconis,” she said as she

  stepped backwards and morphed back to her

  human form. “I must go wherever the Grimoire

  goes, for our two fates are tied together

  irrevocably.”

  “You are welcome, of course,” said

  Felicity with a warm smile.

  “However, I must also care for my

  people, just as they have always been there to

  care for me. Every one of them once came here

  hoping to free me from my imprisonment. I owe

  them a debt of gratitude for all that they have

  suffered because of me. Besides, I cannot undo

  what they have become, and so they must remain

  as they are.”

  “Perhaps once we return to London we

  can think of something to do with them all,”

  Lancelot suggested uneasily as he, too, walked

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  over to where she stood. “Surely, your dragons

  cannot be completely useless. They must

  possess skills that would help them make their

  way in the world.”

  “Are you crazy, Lance?” Felicity

  gasped. “We can’t bring two hundred dragons to

  live in London. Where do you think we’d put

  them all?”

  “Maybe we should simply let them loose

  beyond the Veil,” he teased her. “That would

  certainly give the Prime Minister a reason for all

  his concern.”

  “Don’t be silly, Lance,” she grumbled,

  unwilling to rise to the bait of discussing politics

  that he’d dangled before her. “You know they

  must stay inside the Veil, at least while they are

  in dragon form. And that is going to mean two

  hundred more mouths to feed into the bargain.

  Archibald Flanders surely will not be pleased by

  that prospect.”

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  “You know there is no one place within

  Magehold’s walls where such a group could

  live,” said Lance with a heavy sigh.

  “Wait a moment,” Felicity said as she

  slapped herself on the forehead. “Princess, are

  all of your dragons able to transform, as you

  do?”

  “Yes, of course,” she answered. “All

  dragons have that ability, whether they were

  born to it or not. Why do you ask?”

  “Only because all of the answers are

  staring me right in the face. Not just yours, but

  our own as well. The Magi who live behind the

  Veil have been seeking an alternative means to

  bring food into the Magehold for a very long

  time,” she explained. “If these dragons can

  appear to be humans, perhaps we could obtain

  some lands for them to farm.”

  “You’re brilliant, Felicity!” Lance

  agreed as he hugged her to him. “They could be

  the answer to that problem. But I fear that does

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  not help us to house them right now, nor solve

  the issue of transporting them to England to

  begin with.”

  “Yes, since there is no Veil over the

  Channel, I do not see how it can be done,” she

  agreed.

  “We also have the ability to become

  invisible to humans,” Amaranth told them. “It is

  how the dragons survived for so long when we

  lived among humans in the past. Also, while I

  am in my human form you must call me by my

  human name. Among the humans, I was once

  known as Princess Amara, though I fear the

  name passed from existence along with my

  book. The identities must remain separate, so

  that none should guess my true nature without

  my leave.”

  “It is a lovely name,” Lance reassured

  her. “And, if you are agreeable, I think I know

  precisely where we might take your people until

  we can find them homes.”

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  “Where might that be?” she inquired.

  “I own a huge country estate with plenty

  of land,” he explained. “I would be farming it

  right now if I could, but since it is inside the Veil

  I fear the magic prevents me planting any viable

  crops there. However, it might as well serve as a

  proper base of operations for your people until

  the matter is settled.”

  “What a brilliant idea,” Felicity

  exclaimed. “Lance, that is so wonderful of you

  to offer.”

  “And now, to the matter of travel,” he

  said. “There’s nothing for it but to fly over

  Mundania, Princess. Perhaps it would be wise to

  gather your people together and explain the need

  for secrecy on that journey.”

  “Indeed, yes, I need to gather them

  together in any case,” she agreed.

  “And if you wish to obtain any supplies

  before we go, that also should be done in short

  order. It would be quite difficult to explain our

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  presence in such great numbers should we be

  discovered here by the Mundanes.”

  While Amaranth returned to her dragon

  form and set about getting her people in order,

  Felicity and Lance returned to their campsite to

  gather their belongings. As they worked side by

  side on shrinking everything down again, they

  couldn’t help but smile.

  “It seems like this mission has wrought

  much more for our people than we’d bargained

  for, does it not?” said Felicity with a satisfied
/>
  sigh.

  “There’s still a great deal to be done,”

  Lance reminded her. “The lands will need to be

  bought, and the seeds supplied, but I’m feeling

  very optimistic about the future now.”

  “Did I not tell you so?” she said. “These

  dragons will be a perfect bridge between the two

  worlds. Everything will be better because of

  them.”

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  “Of course, London will soon be filled

  with dragon-borns,” Lance pointed out slyly. “I

  hope the competition will not overtax you, my

  dear.”

  “Lancelot Jones, you’d better be off to

  the store yourself,” she told him.

  “Whatever for, my dear?”

  “Because you still haven’t bought that

  vellum yet, and I do believe we’re not in the

  caves any longer.”

  “So, what you’re saying is...”

  “The dragons might be busy for quite

  some time,” she said as she wrapped her arms

  about his neck.

  “But Felicity, my sweet, the tent is

  already taken down,” he pointed out as he

  feathered kisses along her cheeks and neck.

  “So, it’s not as if that has stopped us

  before,” she pointed out with a chuckle.

  “Indeed, it hasn’t,” he agreed.

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  Lancelot lifted Felicity into his arms and

  carried her over to the tent. There, he laid her

  down with tender care and proceeded to kiss her

  madly.

  She groaned with ecstatic desire as she

  opened her mouth for him. Once again, she saw

  rainbows.

  Lance’s hands slid inside of the robe she

  still wore, gliding over her nipples until he had

  her sobbing with need. “Oh Lance, please!”

  Lance kissed his way down her body to

  suckle, and then down her belly and towards a

  much tastier treat. Felicity groaned with

  anticipation.

  As Lance was about to delve into all the

  adventure he could possibly handle, they heard

 

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