Ronan enveloped Danielle’s hand in both his own feeling the warmth return to her flesh. He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. “Danielle, can you hear me?”
“Ronan?” A thread of bewilderment touched her voice.
Ronan shot a quick glance toward Rika. Her expression suggested the same worry he felt. “It’s me. Rika’s here too.”
“Have I died Ronan? Are you and Rika dead too?”
“Nobody died Danielle,” Ronan said.
“Where are we?” Danielle pushed herself to a seated position and looked around. She clutched the Obsith sorcerer’s robe to her body covering her exposed chest. When her eyes met the translucent building a few feet away, she grimaced. “We’re still in Trace’s camp?” Her brow furrowed as she looked between Rika and Rona with curiosity etched on her face. “Why are you two looking at me like that?”
“Danielle, you were badly burned. Don’t you remember?” Rika said.
“I remember standing in Trace’s quarters.” Her eyes widened, and she gasped. “Arber!”
Beyond the crystal building, distant voices grew louder as they approached.
“I’m sorry Danielle, but we can’t stay here.” Ronan stood and pulled Danielle to her feet.
Danielle swayed and grabbed Ronan’s hands steadying herself. The robe covering her body slipped free exposing her bare chest, but Danielle seemed not to care.
Rika swooped in and slid her hand around Danielle’s waist holding her steady. She plucked the burlap robe from the sand and slipped it over Danielle’s head.
“We can’t leave,” Danielle said. “Trace has Lora’s Sphere, and he has a heartwood tree.”
“I’m not letting him walk away with Lora’s Sphere,” Ronan said. “Where’s his quarters? Can you remember how to get there?”
“I think so,” Danielle said as she adjusted the robe. “Arber’s here too.”
A hot flicker of rage sparked in Ronan’s brain, and he glared toward camp.
“He’s not what you think,” Danielle said. “You have to trust me.”
Ronan found it hard to believe, but he didn’t have time to argue. “For now I’ll take you at your word. I promise not to kill him until I hear you out.”
“Thank you,” Danielle said.
The approaching voices grew louder. Deeper voices mingled with high-pitched youthful tones marking them as sorcerers.
“I think they’re coming from that way.” Ronan pointed behind him from where they’d arrived earlier. “Come on.” He slid his blade from its scabbard and channeled spirit shields around him, Rika, and Danielle. “Danielle, lead the way.”
***
Danielle lowered her voice and leaned into Ronan. “Ronan, put the blade away. If they discover us, we’ll never get back Lora’s Sphere.”
Ronan clenched his jaw and shoved the sheba blade into the scabbard at his shoulder. “Trace has a bracelet he uses to control the dragons. I mean to remove it. By force if necessary.”
Danielle shook her head and whispered in a low urgent tone. “We have to be smart about it. I mean to take Lora’s Sphere back before we leave this camp.”
Blurred figures and flickering torches appeared through both sides of the prison cell's walls. They moved in a direct path toward Rika, Ronan, and Danielle. Within seconds, the approaching group would converge on the fetid carcass pile.
A cold sweat broke out on Danielle’s forehead. “Ronan, climb on top of the pile. Hurry.” Danielle spoke in a hushed whisper. “Rika, take a gazelle’s form and play dead.”
Ronan scrambled atop the twisted pile of bloody carcasses while Rika hurried behind him. He lay face down while Rika stretched out over him shifting into a large gazelle. She kept her eyes open and still doing her best to play dead.
Danielle scurried after Rika, plopped down, and positioned her body atop Ronan’s legs and feet. She held her breath and shifted into a black-striped forest gazelle colored a shade lighter than Rika.
The sound of muffled voices grew louder as sorcerers and shaman rounded the corner. Two muscled shaman pulled a glistening red wagon built from the now familiar desert crystal. Inside the wagon bed, Arber lay motionless, his arms and legs bent and twisted at awkward angles. Two dozen lash marks, fresh and bloody, crisscrossed his face, chest, and legs. His mouth hung open and eyes closed while his body bounced and jiggled with the wagon’s movement.
Danielle stifled a chirping sound common to forest gazelle. She forced long slow breaths despite her pounding heart.
A hooded sorcerer stopped before the carcass heap and paused. His gaze flickered across Danielle and Rika’s still bodies before settling on the pile’s far end. “Leave him on the cart. We’ll feed him to the dragons with the rest.”
The rank stench of death and rotting flesh lying bare inches from Danielle’s nose turned her stomach. She held her breath afraid the slightest movement might bring the entire camp down on them.
The sorcerer gestured toward Danielle, Rika, and the carcasses piled high beneath them. “Start with these.” He glanced over his shoulder toward a trio of muscle-bound shaman standing by the wagon. “Make sure you feed the girl’s body to the emperor’s dragon.”
One of the beefy shaman furrowed his brow and scratched his head. “Yes sir, but where is she?” His gaze traveled the pile as if searching for Danielle’s body.
“I tossed her right there myself,” a second shaman said and pointed to the spot where Danielle and Rika lay.
A second sorcerer stepped up pausing inches from Danielle’s face. “She probably slid between these two animals.” He pointed at Rika’s motionless form stretched out beside Danielle.
The hooded sorcerer nodded. “Get to work then. I want this done before sunrise.”
“What’s the rush? We need rest before returning to Zen. The dragons included,” the second sorcerer said.
“We’re not returning to Zen,” the hooded sorcerer said. “The emperor’s issued new orders. We’re to stay behind and break camp.”
“Stay behind? Where’s he going?” A third sorcerer said.
The hooded sorcerer shook his head. “He doesn’t tell me anything, but if I don’t get the dragons fed, he’ll cook me just like he did the forest girl.” He gestured the shaman forward. “Enough chatter. Get to work.”
Danielle’s mind raced. She couldn’t imagine what he’d planned for Elan’s sphere. But, the millions of people standing in harm’s way sent a cold chill through her body.
Three shaman stepped forward and reached for Danielle’s front and rear legs. Eight detention shields sprang to life shackling the sorcerers and shaman near the carcass heap.
Danielle bolted from her prone position and shifted into a white saber-toothed forest cat. Her large front paws touched the sand near the pile’s base, and from the corner of her eye, she detected Rika moving beside her.
The shaman standing near the pile froze staring ahead in wide-eyed astonishment.
The silver rings on the sorcerers’ hands glowed cherry red. The detention shields’ low buzz sang like a long forgotten song.
Danielle bounded between two wide-eyed shaman and sprinted toward the wagon holding Arber.
Ronan leaped from the pile while a rush of bright red light spilled from his sheba blade. Scarlet light flickered across the shadowy desert floor.
Fire broiled inside the sorcerers’ detention shields. Flames torched their energy prison like old dry kindling. Ropes of orange and red flames flew from their outstretched fingertips. The detention shields surrounding the trapped shaman disintegrated under the blast.
Rika bounded forward shifting into a great horned ice bear. Gleaming ivory tusks extended eighteen-inches from her face. Short needle-sharp spikes covered both of her twisted tusks. She lowered her shaggy head and barreled into the nearest sorcerer. Her neck jerked upward, and she sank her forked tusks deep into the sorcerer’s chest.
A wheezing gurgle cleared the sorcerer’s throat while Rika hoisted him skyward like a ske
wered olive. She shook him in violent back and forth motions and his spine snapped with a sickening pop. Rika pitched her neck upward, and the hooded figure slipped free flailing like a rag doll caught in a wind gust. His limp body landing atop the pile of stinking animal carcasses.
The heavy scent of burned ozone filled the air, and the short white fur on Danielle’s back bristled in dread anticipation. Her feral instinct buzzed, and she leaped straight off the ground. Lightning sizzled. The soft ground beneath her paws exploded sending a fountain of sand spraying in all directions.
Ronan’s palm flashed and heavy spirit shields sprang to life around Danielle, Rika, and Ronan. His red blade flashed sweeping before him in a wide arc leaving tracers of brilliant crimson light in its wake.
The hooded sorcerer sent a lightning bolt streaking toward Ronan. Incoherent words came from the shaman nearest Ronan. His amulet glowed bright blue, and he raised his palm slowing the sorcerer’s lightning in mid-flight.
The lighting crackled and swirled like a miniature whirlwind surrounding Ronan. The sorcerer continued to channel lightning while the shaman forged a powerful trap.
Wisps of electricity crackled creating columns around the seven remaining Obsith casters.
Cold fear pricked the back of Danielle’s head. What she wouldn’t give for a single seed, but she’d found nothing in the time she’d spent probing the sands around the Obsith war camp.
A tiny pigtailed sorcerer flashed Danielle an innocent smile revealing two missing front teeth. But, her eyes, full of venom and malice, betrayed her true age.
Danielle’s skin crawled, and she backed away from the girl. Her innocence shook Danielle, and she fought every protective instinct she’d ever known. She froze unable to attack despite her rational mind’s insistence.
As if sensing Danielle’s reticence, the girl raised her index finger and mumbled a few words in the strange Obsith tongue. Flames leaped from the girl’s finger and widened buoyed by a shaman’s power. Orange fire spread outward billowing into an inferno that threatened to engulf Danielle.
The encroaching flames triggered memories Danielle’s subconscious mind had blocked. Horrific visions of the affinity chamber flashed through her head. Her mind locked, and she shifted into her human form. She held her head screaming while flames wrapped Ronan’s spirit shield.
Around Danielle, orange flames grew hotter enveloping her entire shield in a fiery tomb.
In the distance, a bear’s anguished howl penetrated the vault of flames.
Danielle recognized Rika’s desperate cry. She closed her eyes willing away the flames, but her wish went unfulfilled. Intense heat forced her eyes open, and blue flames mixed with red, yellow, and orange as the inferno raged around her.
Ronan’s spirit shield melted away and the flames raced inward seeking out Danielle’s flesh. Her fate seemed unavoidably intertwined with her beloved Heartwood; both would burn and die on the same day. She closed her eyes and prayed for a swift release.
A thunderous roar boomed overhead. The blue flames solidified pushing away the raw heat leaving behind a pure blue spirit shield. The shield appeared unlike Ronan’s clear glassy barrier. Rather, it looked like shields crafted by knights like Devery Tyrell or Jeremy.
Danielle opened her eyes and found the sorcerer lying dead a dozen feet away and a man wearing a shield knight’s armor kneel before her.
“I’m here Danielle. I won’t let them hurt you,” the warm voice said as he wrapped Danielle inside his strong arms.
Goose bumps spread across Danielle’s arms and legs. “Jeremy?”
“Yes, Danielle. It’s me,” Jeremy said.
Danielle peered upward and found his kind blue eyes and warm smile searching her face. She reached out with her fingertips and touched his unshaven cheek making sure he truly existed. She shook her head. “How?” Her memory came flooding back, and her flesh crawled. “Ronan! Where is he Jeremy?” She peered over Jeremy’s shoulder and gasped.
Ronan and Rika stood amid a pile of dead and broken Obsith bodies. Beside Ronan, an enormous black dragon stood with white smoke curling from his flared nostrils. Inside his sharp talons he clutched the hooded sorcerer who had attacked Ronan.
From behind Rika, a golden saber cat crept into view, her mouth glistening bright red. Keely shifted into human form and stood beside Rika appearing annoyed. “Are you just going to sit there while we do all the work? Honestly Danielle, I thought I’d taught you better.”
A wry grin stretched across Danielle’s face, and she relaxed. “Keely!”
Keely tipped her head and glanced toward Jeremy. Her gaze locked on his arm wrapped around Danielle’s waist. “It looks like lover boy came just in time.”
Jeremy’s cheeks flushed crimson red, and he loosened his grip around Danielle’s waist.
Danielle grabbed his hand and squeezed pulling it back. Jeremy’s touch felt warm and reassuring, and she didn’t want him to leave her side. “Keely, stop it. You’re embarrassing him.”
Ronan stepped forward and sheathed his blade. “Danielle, the dragon’s my friend. His name’s Thoth, and he won’t harm you, but —”
Thoth’s neck spasmed, and the ebony dragon crashed to his side shaking in a violent seizure. White spittle formed in his mouth, and the dragon’s deep blue eyes rolled back into his skull. At the base of his neck, the crystal embedded in his scales glowed flashing bright shades of green, blue, and red.
Danielle took a step forward then paused as a robed figure appeared from behind the crystal prison.
A sorcerer smiled holding a long thin crystal rod wrapped by a gleaming silver handle. The crystal flared violet, amber, and cobalt light. “You should very much fear the dragon, and he knows the penalty for treason.”
Thoth lay motionless with his eyes closed as calm replaced the ragged breathing and seizures.
“But first, he owes the emperor one last act of loyalty,” the sorcerer said.
Thoth jerked upward and flashed rows of razor sharp teeth. His blue eyes glittered with malice, and he took a rumbling step toward Ronan opening his jaws.
“No!” Rika shifted into an ice bear and roared bounding forward.
Danielle’s pulsed raced, and she shifted into a saber cat before lunging forward.
“Rika, Danielle wait!” Ronan leaped toward Thoth’s crystal saddle. He grabbed hold of its edge and flung his leg over Thoth’s back.
Thoth roared whipping his tail around as if to strike Ronan. He jerked his body from side to side in a desperate effort to shake loose the Meranthian king.
Jeremy raised his hand preparing spirit.
Danielle shifted into human form and grabbed his wrist. “No, you might hit Ronan!”
Ronan’s hand glowed, and a bright orb of blue spirit energy rested on his open palm. The orb floated free and hovered inches above Thoth’s neck before shrinking into a pinpoint of piercing blue light.
The spirit energy drifted downward and settled into the jagged crystal lodged in Thoth’s neck. The gold chain supporting the crystal snapped before clattering to the ground. Spirit flashed, and the crystal disappeared replaced with the warm glow of concentrated energy.
Thoth’s chest heaved, and he pulled in heavy uneven breaths. A moment later, his body relaxed, and he twisted his neck around. He opened his eyes training his piercing gaze on Ronan. The malice in Thoth’s eyes faded with the glowing light in the sorcerer’s crystal rod.
The wide-eyed sorcerer eased backward trying to slip unnoticed into the desert night.
Danielle prepared to shift then froze when the dragon roared raising the hair on her neck.
Thoth spun showing quickness and agility that belied his enormous size. His eyes gleamed with fresh menace.
The sorcerer stared slack-jawed at the crystal rod still clutched in his hand. He raised his palm toward Thoth. “You didn’t think I meant what I said did you?” He forced a nervous laugh and gestured toward the carcass pile. “Look, we found fresh meat for you. Eat as much as you’d
like.”
Thoth’s eyes never left the tiny sorcerer as his head bobbed up and down.
The sorcerer smiled, and his shoulders relaxed.
Thoth opened his mouth wide, bent down, and scooped up the sorcerer in a single gulp.
Muffled screams came from the dragon’s throat followed by silence as Thoth tipped his head back and swallowed.
Ronan slid from Thoth’s saddle and placed a comforting hand on the dragon’s neck.
“How did you do that?” Danielle said.
“It’s a technique Devery taught me,” Ronan said. “He uses spirit to cauterize battlefield wounds. I modified the trick a bit. I’m just glad it worked.”
A large grin spread across Thoth’s face, and he dipped his head toward Ronan. The dragon nudged Ronan’s chest with his massive nose.
After she’d watched the dragons devastate the Heartwood, Danielle found this softer side surprising. “Does Trace control all the dragons using those crystals?”
Ronan nodded. “He uses a bracelet bound to his wrist.” He placed his hand on Thoth’s snout and returned the dragon’s smile. “You’re welcome. In a few weeks the wound should close, and I’ll remove the plug.”
That explained the erratic behavior Danielle had seen the dragons display during the past few weeks. “Ronan, can you help Arber? Please.”
“He’s a traitor Danielle,” Keely said glaring toward Arber’s limp form still heaped in the wagon bed. “He deserves his fate.”
Danielle shook her head. “He’s no traitor Keely. Arber explained what happened, and I believe him.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” Ronan moved to the wagon and flattened his palm resting it on Arber’s leg. “He’s still alive.”
Danielle exhaled as relief washed through her body. She walked to the wagon bed and stopped beside Ronan before taking hold of Arber’s hand. “Will the healing hurt him?”
“There’s no guarantee,” Ronan said. “The healing relies on some of Arber’s stored energy, and if he’s too weak, it could kill him.”
“Boo hoo,” Keely said and folded her arms.
Danielle glared at Keely before facing Ronan. “He’ll die without it. Go ahead.”
King Of Souls (Book 2) Page 34