The Dragon's Torment

by Emily L K

  He passed under the main gates and ran to the crest of the bridge. He threw his Hum out again, this time allowing it to saturate everything it touched. He felt other Hums acknowledge him; some he knew, and some who knew him. Others shied away from his brazen use of power, throwing up their barriers against him. He didn't care, he just needed to reach her.

  His Hum touched her mind again and this time he was just close enough to push against her barriers. He expected her to let them down, but she didn't. Instead, he experienced strange flashes of vision; crowds of people standing in the rain, a man in an executioner's mask and a noose swinging overhead. He felt fear grip him and he pushed his Hum further, positively slamming it against her barriers. Why wouldn't she open them to him? He couldn't lose her. Not now, not when he'd just found her again.

  Suddenly something shifted. Her barriers didn't open, but the Hiram side of her magic flared briefly. She was fighting. With a shaky gasp, he withdrew his magic a little. It pained him that he didn't know what was happening, or if she was able to get out of the situation she was in, but he didn't want to crowd her when she needed to concentrate. He'd never felt so hopeless being so far away.

  He stayed close enough to her mind to know when the fighting had stopped. She was moving now, and he touched her barriers again, urging her on. Then he lifted his Hum high - out of the awareness of the other Dijem - but he left it fanned out so that he could still feel Cori.

  He returned to himself, standing atop the bridge. He had a hand on the stone edge, steadying himself, and he was drenched in a cold sweat. That had been too close. He didn't want to think of what might have happened if he'd stayed in the tavern for one more drink. Just contemplating it made him sick.

  He reached out once more to Cori to find that she'd paused. He gave her another push then turned back towards Bandar Utara. He needed a horse.

  THE TRIP TO LAUTAN took a little under two weeks. He reached out to check Cori's progress often and each time was heartened to feel that she was getting closer. He didn't push her the way he had when he'd first found her, rather he brushed lightly against her barriers just to reassure himself.

  Soon she was close enough that he no longer had to expend effort; she was within his natural reach and he let his presence sit against her barriers almost constantly. The closer he got to Lautan, the more nervous he felt. He hadn't anticipated ever seeing her again. He'd spent the past five hundred years believing that she'd died after their battle with the green dragon. Now, they were moving steadily towards each other and he didn't know what to think.

  How would she feel about him? He was sure he would feel the same way about her as he had when they had last been together, but her feelings back then had been uncertain so he couldn't trust that they would be reciprocated now. She had also apparently become quite the war monger. Would that have changed her much from the girl he'd known? He could only blame himself for that trait in her; under the influence of the Deathsong, he'd encouraged a sense of ruthless rebellion in her.

  They reached Lautan at almost the same time, he only just ahead of her. He went to his palace to find it in ruins and uninhabited. There wasn't even any signs that people had been there recently. His curiosity burned. What had happened here? He was acutely aware of Cori arriving into town and he went to the throne room to wait.

  Many of the pillars that had held the arches had fallen, allowing only slivers of light to get through. The mural he had once painted on the wall behind the throne had also chipped and peeled away to nothing. He walked the hall feeling as if he'd entered a realm of ghosts and spirits.

  This place had been a prison to him. He'd been unable to leave, feeling bound by a sense of duty towards his own people. He'd been tasked with not only protecting both them and the humans from the Hiram, but also all of the races against Cadmus. by the looks of this place, he had failed.

  Only Arasy stood proudly among the ruins. The dragon throne was as shined and polished as the day he'd first placed it on the dais and he reached towards it with his Hum as he approached.

  Karalis, Arasy greeted. This is most unexpected.

  Arasy. Rowan gained the dais and ran his hand over the smooth wood of the dragon's head. What has happened here?

  Your Karaliene proves quite the ruler, Arasy responded and Rowan noted that the throne sounded proud. A pity she abandoned us. Sit, Karalis. You feel weary.

  He was, but only because all the changes to the realm were catching up to him. He felt like a man outside his time. He sat down on the throne, resting his chin atop his fist and looked up the empty hall. He had always liked this room best when he was alone in it. Movement at the far arches caught his eye and his heartbeat quickened. After an agonisingly slow moment, Cori stepped into the room.

  Fierce, was his first thought as he stared at her. She halted when she spotted him, her expression flat and hard. Oh, he'd taught her well. Her mask was failing though, he could see emotions slipping through. She started down the hall towards him and he took the opportunity to assess her.

  Thin. Too thin. She'd been through some tough times. Her now golden eyes held his as she approached and he noted that she seemed to have aged a few years, though that could have been an effect of her emancipated features. He felt sadness well within him, and guilt. He should have been here to protect her. She should never have had to experience the things that had turned her into the predator that stalked towards him.

  She said something, but he didn't hear it over the sound of his own heartbeat thumping in his ears. She stopped before the dais and bowed mockingly to him. She knew he hated when people bowed before him, most of all her. He would have smiled at her insolence, had he not been so overwhelmed at seeing her alive.

  She straightened and looked at him. He saw her hard expression replaced with one of worry. He realised that he was just staring at her.

  "Rowan?" She asked lightly and her voice was like a breath of new air that made him move.

  He stood and descended the dais to stand before her. She was alive and she was here before him. Up close, he could see how sick she really was, but it wasn't just her figure that alarmed him. Her eyes looked haunted, as if she'd been carrying something too heavy for her to bear. A feeling of dread settled in the pit of his stomach as he took a guess at why her barriers were still up. Surely not...

  He wanted to touch her, to make sure she was real and to take her in his arms and make everything alright. She seemed to sense his thoughts, for she flinched away from him. That made him sad. What had happened to her? Who had broken her like this?

  He had, he realised. By not being here, he'd left her for the wolves.

  "Cori," he said her name and suddenly the last of her angry facade broke. He saw her chest heave as if she were trying to restrain a sob. He watched her fight some internal battle as her whole body began to tremble. Her hand lifted to cover her mouth and she tried to turn away from him. He wasn't going to let her go though. As her legs gave out, he caught her and followed her to the ground.

  He pressed his face against her hair, breathing in the smell of her. Tears slid down his cheeks as she shook in his arms. His sadness at her pain was overshadowed with relief, however. They were both alive and they had been given a second chance together. This time, he wasn't going to let her go.