“You don’t know what you are talking about,” Sadira snapped.
“Don’t I?” Azurynn ran her fingers over the chain slowly. “You had every opportunity to do what needed to be done in Markene when you went back there to steal your sisters. Instead of killing everyone and walking away, you played games. You stole your sisters for pets and then allowed one to escape. You could have left Markene inhabited by nothing but ghosts. Now look at you, still trying to claim something that was never yours in the first place.”
“It was always mine,” Sadira hissed. How dare this woman air her mistakes like that? What are you going to do about it? a little voice whispered in her head. What can you do? She shook the thoughts away, determined to ignore Azurynn. She couldn’t keep from hearing the woman’s soft, mocking laughter though.
Kovan cleared his throat. “Are you sure now is the time for this, Sadira?”
Sadira shot him a withering glare. “This is none of your business.” At her command, Ranit left the cavern and launched into the sky. The air rippled into a black swirl as a Jump opened. They passed through into the icy darkness. When they came out of the other side, they were halfway to the Blood River.
She hated the short Jumps they had to make, but they couldn’t Slide like a Guardian dragon. Instead, they had to pass through the same void a soul sphere led to. They could streak back to the Kormai in a matter of seconds, but leaving was much harder and had to be taken in a series of Jumps through the void. The further they got from the Kormai, the shorter the Jump until just west of the Galdar River. After that they had to fly over land.
Another dark Jump spun open and the icy black enveloped her for a moment before they came out the other side. Sulwyna had complained that the whispers inside the void bothered her although Azurynn claimed their tortured cries were a form of musical entertainment. Sadira didn’t hear them though. It must be something only those who used Shadow Spirit magic were able to hear.
Again the black swirl spun open and the dark void surrounded her.
Kalila walked through the halls with Lalani on one side and Sehlas on the other. The group of Weather mages trailed behind, holding their own quiet conversations. She wasn’t their queen. They were here to protect her and help her protect Markene from any visits by Shadow Riders, particularly Sadira. Kalila knew that visit was coming. The skin on the back of her neck prickled and she suppressed a shiver.
She pulled herself away from her dark thoughts and tried to pay attention to Lalani and Sehlas. Both were well-versed in what it took to run a nation, although they often wanted to go about it in different ways.
Lalani approached everything in a cool, practical manner while Sehlas allowed more emotion into his advice, though his was no less practical. The two often quarreled with each other as they were doing now.
“Someone is stirring the pot in this nation and they need to be ferreted out,” Lalani said.
Sehlas shook his head, his hazel eyes troubled. “You cannot start randomly questioning people; it will turn them away from Kalila rather than drawing their support.”
Lalani arched one slim red eyebrow. “And what do you propose? Allowing whomever is causing the dissention to continue? I may not have the strength of a Dragon Rider; however, I am quite capable of detecting lies if I am touching a person. It is not as if I plan to torture people until they give me answers.” She stepped around a cat that refused to move, bending to draw her hand over its fur. Without missing a step she straightened and continued, “Torture is not condoned by me or by Galdrilene.”
Sehlas sighed, a patient look settling over his features. “Any kind of questioning would put people on the defensive. It would make them feel as if guilt is assumed until their answers prove them innocent.”
Lalani gazed at him a moment. “What is your point? If we bring someone in to question it is because we do assume their guilt.”
Kalila rubbed her temples. How many times were they going to have this argument? Sometimes it seemed as if the two argued just for the sake of arguing. They passed her mother standing in the doorway of her apartments. Kalila searched her face, trying to find some semblance of the woman she remembered.
Her mother gazed back with empty, muddy brown eyes. No, they weren’t completely empty. Something flickered in their depths, something that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. For a moment, Kalila thought she saw cold hatred staring back at her, but in the next instant it was gone and only the empty eyes of an empty woman stared back. Her mother stepped inside the room and shut the door.
Lalani’s cool gaze glanced back and then rested on Kalila. “She is one we should question.”
“What?” Kalila nearly stumbled. Sehlas’ hand grabbed her arm to steady her though she didn’t look at him. “You want to question my mother? She is an empty shell caught up in grief over my father; she no longer cares about anything. Even so, she is my mother. What exactly are you accusing her of?”
Kalila didn’t have a lot of warm feelings or memories of her mother. Those feelings from childhood always came from memories of her father. He had been doting, supportive, and loving. Her mother had always been more concerned with her status and making sure her daughters achieved the best status possible through marriage. Kalila remembered her as often being cold and calculating…
No, her mother wouldn’t betray her that way. She had always wanted the highest rank for them. What was higher than queen? Why would she want to remove her own daughter from the throne? It wasn’t as if her mother wanted it; she didn’t think it was proper at all for a woman to rule Markene.
The memory of her mother’s anger floated across her mind. The only emotion the woman had shown had flashed bright and hot the day after Kalila took the throne and her brother, Toren, left for Galdrilene. She recalled when her mother cornered her after the feast, and the shrieking accusations that Kalila had completely overstepped propriety and in the process stolen her only son from her. Had it really only been fifteen days since she took the throne? If felt like a lifetime already.
Could her mother be the cause behind this festering wound in Markene’s solidarity? Did her mother not realize that the very existence of this nation rode on its ability to stand strong as a unified force? The Shadow Riders would tear Markene apart from the inside out if there were weak links in the chain.
Lalani stopped abruptly in the hall, her eyes unfocused. Kalila stopped and looked at her in concern. “Lalani?”
The color drained from Lalani’s already light-skinned face as her pale blue eyes grew wide. “A Shadow comes. I can feel it.”
Kalila’s heart slammed into her chest,and for a moment, she stood rooted to the ground while she tried to rein in her fear. This was not the place for it. She laughed softly, shaking her head at the irony of such a thought.
Sehlas raised his eyebrows. “The approach of one of these Shadow Riders is a source of humor?”
Kalila turned to him, her emotions now held under tight control. “I was telling myself that now wasn’t the time for fear and then realized when a Shadow Rider is coming it is the exact time to be afraid.”
Shrieks of pain and terror echoed down the corridor from the inner courtyard. Kalila straightened her back and squared her shoulders. “It would seem our ‘visitor’ has arrived.” With far more bravado than she felt, she turned and walked toward the cacophony beyond the doors at the end of the hall.
The mages fell in around her as the Defenders placed themselves as a living shield in front of her and the mages. She paused when they reached the doors, took several deep breaths, then motioned the Defenders to open them.
Ranit crouched in the middle of the inner courtyard; despair and darkness rolled from under her outstretched wings. It was stronger than Kalila remembered. Ranit had matured in the last year and a half, and the blackness that accompanied her attested to it.
Kalila’s eyes roamed the courtyard. What she could see of it around Ranit churned her stomach. Several men lay in heaps of blackened, b
listered skin. Green flames licked up one side of the courtyard wall, burning the stone as if it were wood. On the ground, several charred corpses lay. The stench of burning flesh and bone filled the air as the acid-like fire consumed them.
Lord Haden and his retinue cowered not far from the keep doors. She shot him a disgusted look. This was how he would have ruled Markene in a time when Shadow Riders had returned? Cowering in the corner at the first test of his backbone? She turned her attention back to the horror wrought by a single Shadow Dragon.
Several more bodies lay in the center of the courtyard mere inches from the tips of Ranit’s wings. Each one was sliced neatly in half. Kalila swallowed the bile that burned the back of her throat. It looked like the kind of damage the edge of a Slide would do if one wasn’t careful.
Fear clawed at Kalila’s insides as she regarded the woman standing in front of Ranit. “You are not welcome here, Sadira,” she said, relieved that her voice betrayed none of the terror pooling in her limbs.
Sadira walked slowly forward, her eyes narrowed as they swept the Defenders and mages. “So it’s true. I wasn’t sure how much I believed when I heard you were trying to steal my throne from me.”
Kalila lifted her chin. “The throne was never yours. It is mine by birthright.”
“Birthright?” Sadira spat. “I was the first born to the king. It’s my birthright!”
Kalila felt a tug on her magic as Katian linked their power together. A strong wall of air came up around them though she knew no one else could see it. She focused her attention back on Sadira, carefully avoiding looking at Ranit’s face. That ugly thing’s eyes haunted enough of her nightmares; she didn’t need to see them again in real life.
“I will never let Markene fall to you, Sadira.”
A cloud of oily black shadows flowed from Sadira’s hands and came up against the shield of air. They slithered across the surface of it and Sadira laughed. The sound of it made Kalila’s skin crawl.
“Really? This is the defense you offer Markene?” Her dark eyes flashed with a malignant light as the shadows started to ooze through the shield.
Every scar on Kalila’s body burned and itched as they remembered their touch. Sadira smiled as more tendrils broke through the shield and trailed through the air. “Your mages aren’t stronger than me, little sister. Not even when they are linked.”
“They aren’t the only mages here, Sadira. It seems that magic is something we have in common.”
Sadira’s eyes narrowed as more shadows slipped through. “It really doesn’t matter now, does it?”
Arryn glanced back at Kalila. “Lift the shield enough for us to get through. We can’t defend you from behind it.”
Kalila shook her head slightly. “You can’t protect me from this. She would kill you before you took two steps and enjoy every second of it.”
The first wave of shadows had nearly reached Kalila and the mages when an arrow flew through the air and thudded into Sadira’s back. She stumbled forward then looked down at the point protruding just below her left breast. Sadira turned with a hiss and looked at Ranit. “Take care of that.”
The black turned and set one of the gate towers on fire. Screams from inside it poured into the courtyard. Kalila watched in helpless rage as the tower and those inside it burned. Ranit’s fire had engulfed the entire structure; there was no chance for escape. Someone in that tower had given their life in defense of hers.
Sadira coughed and blood splattered her lip. She sneered at Kalila. “Another time sister.”
Ranit turned back to her rider as the tower blazed and Sadira pulled herself into the saddle, grunting and smearing the black scales with blood. Ranit opened her mouth and green flames poured out. Kalila instinctively cringed, waiting to feel the burn. She glanced at Katian. Sweat rolled down the other woman’s face as she struggled to hold the shield against the strength of the dragon’s fire. A lesser mage wouldn’t have been able to hold it, but Katian was strong in her magic.
The fire suddenly stopped and the black leaped into the air, her wings working in quick, heavy bursts. Out the corner of her eye Kalila saw several whirlpools in the air. Just as Guardian dragons erupted through the Slides, a pool of darkness swirled and opened. Shryden and Nydara both sent walls of flame at the Shadow Dragon. A shriek like the sound of nails across metal filled the air as the black dove into the dark opening and disappeared.
Katian let the weave go and slumped against the wall behind her. Kalila swayed slightly, feeling the backlash from the shared power. Sehlas steadied her. Within minutes the walls of the courtyard were groaning under the weight of seven dragons. Kirynn covered the burning wall and tower with weaves and the green fire finally sputtered and died.
The riders dismounted and followed the stairs down from the wall walk. As they approached, she heard Mckale. His eyes dulled to an iron-gray, he scowled at Maleena. “What was that? I told you to hang back.”
Maleena laughed softly. “That was Nydara’s doing, not mine. She is her own being. You know how strong her feelings are about Shadow Dragons. Besides, I was safe with her.”
“It was too dangerous,” Mckale growled.
Maleena patted him on the arm. “I’m pregnant, my love, not broken. I can still handle myself and my dragon.”
Mckale gave her a look and Kalila had the feeling Mckale would prefer to keep Maleena wrapped in swaddling and stuffed into their lair in Galdrilene for the duration of the pregnancy.
Kellinar nodded at Katian as he approached. He looked at Kalila with a wry grin. “Less than a month and already getting into trouble I see.”
She smiled back. “I’m trying. Sorry I couldn’t cause trouble sooner.”
His ice-blue eyes danced as he chuckled. “Between Kirynn disappearing and Sadira coming here, I’m starting to think I will never make it to Trilene.”
Kalila looked around at the riders. “Why so many of you?”
Maleena smiled. “Lalani’s distress and need came through quite clearly. However, it didn’t tell us how many Shadow Riders we would be facing when we arrived. Thankfully, it was only one.”
Kalila’s hands started to tremble now that the danger was over and she wiped her sweaty palms on her skirt. Drawing a shaky breath she glanced around the courtyard. “Thank you for coming as soon as you did. Katian was doing her best, but Sadira is so strong. If it hadn’t been for someone in the gate tower putting an arrow through her, I don’t think you would have arrived in time.”
Vaddoc frowned. “You need more protection.”
Kirynn nodded. “I think I know a couple of younger riders who could be stationed here, one of which who would do well with a little more responsibility. They are young to be fighting mature Shadow Dragons, but they would only need to hold them off long enough for us to get here.”
“Who?” Mckale asked. His arms were crossed over his chest and he still looked irritated, but the iron-gray of his eyes was slowly fading back to silver.
“Loki, for one. That boy needs direction, something to point his young energy at.” Kirynn held up a hand to stop the protests easily visible in the eyes of the others. “He may be young, but we can’t keep him on apron strings. He’s a fully-fledged Dragon Rider. The sooner we start treating him as such, the sooner he begins to act like it.”
Kellinar nodded. “I think you’re right, but he hasn’t completely recovered from his folly yet.”
“I know,” Kirynn said. “Jocelynn and her green Adirynn, along with Varnen and his blue Abrax can also come. Loki will come once he is healed. That would give a couple of mature riders to help.”
Kalila stared at them. “You would be willing to station Dragon Riders here?”
“We have to,” Taela said, her eyes sad. “We can’t leave Markene like this. In fact, I would suggest we station two or three in Haraban as well. They don’t even have a Spirit mage to summon help if they need it. We’ll have to talk to my father, of course, but I doubt he would object. Tallula and Tania can go to Haraban w
ith their dragons.”
Mckale nodded. “That will only leave Toren, Belynn, Nolan, Brock, and Sumara at Galdrilene since their dragons have barely taken their first flights. Or in the case of Toren, too young to fly at all.”
“Galdrilene has survived before with nothing but young dragons,” Vaddoc said. “Besides, Bardeck and Mernoth are there and they handle all of the training.”
“And Emallya,” Maleena added.
He inclined his head toward her. “And Emallya when she is not off trying to save future riders or mages.”
Kirynn looked at Kalila. “Vaddoc and I will let Bardeck and Emallya know. I imagine it will only be a couple of days before we Slide them here.”
Kalila took a deep breath and felt some of her tension fading. Markene would have definite protection. The Shadow Riders were still a major threat, but her nation wouldn’t be helpless. Now she could concentrate on finding who was causing so much trouble in Markene. She didn’t need a faceless traitor tearing things apart again.
Kalila smiled gratefully. “Thank you for coming to our rescue and for providing a safety net for us.”
Serena laid a hand on her arm. “We are Guardians, this is what we do.”
Kovan looked up from the maps on his desk as Fonja knocked lightly at the open door. He scowled. He hadn’t called for the servant this evening. There was too much to do even if bedding down with her for a night sounded better. She never tried to fight him; in fact, she was quite willing and uninhibited which suited him just fine. He was not his father. He wanted a bed partner that was willing and enjoyed herself. Fonja gave him that, and in return, he was gentle with her.
“What do you want, Fonja?”
She shuffled nervously in the doorway, making no effort to come into the room. That wasn’t like her. Outside of the bed, she was always meek and withdrawn; however, she never acted afraid of him. Of the others yes, but not of him. Impatience shot through Kovan and he slammed a fist on the desk, feeling a flash of anger at the way she flinched. His mother had flinched like every time his father slammed a door or hit something.
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