The Fire Within

by Joely Sue Burkhart

  Her soft, fragile touch slipped through him, urgency maddening him when he was incapacitated in the face of such dire need.

  :Amin said the dragon will be waking up soon.:

  Horror churned his stomach, bile burning his throat. All too easily, he imagined her fragile white skin, shredded, torn apart, a dragon snout buried in her stomach, cracking her bones.

  With an endless howl of rage, his dragon stretched, bulging outward, furious in its need to protect its mate. His back arched, his lungs seized, his heels drummed the floor, yet he dared not surrender to the Fire within. His own beast might do as much damage to her as the Black.

  “How long till dusk?”

  “An hour.”

  Desperation pounded a frantic tempo in his head, his heart slamming against his ribcage. He couldn’t reach her in time. Nothing he did would prevent the massive dragon that had flown overhead in the night from killing her. Nothing.

  :Don’t come.: Urgency vibrated through her. :It’s a trap. Your brother…:

  :Amin will die for ever laying a hand on you. I will find a way to reach you.:

  He blocked her cry to stay away and protect himself. Looking up at the priest, he was surprised by tears on the old man’s cheeks.

  “Amin surrendered to his fears. Will you do the same, saif? Will you let your fears kill the White who will lead you to victory?”

  “What do you know about his fears?”

  Shaddad’Agni’s eyes closed, pain flickering across his face. “I saw a dreadful choice that your brother would have to make. I counseled him closely over the years, but I should have known that nothing I could say would persuade him otherwise. A vision from Agni never misleads, no matter how much we battle our fates.”

  Zahak almost asked about his own fears, but he knew full well the priest saw the darkest corners of his heart. Anyone who remembered his father knew the dra’gwar son’s greatest fear. Now Eleni would be eaten by a dragon anyway.

  Shaddad’Agni leaned down, shadows hollowing his face. “There is a way, if you dare.”

  Clenching his jaws, Zahak fought the curse in his blood. “I dare not transform without her mark to balance me. Besides, I have no desire to remain a dragon the rest of my days while she lives alone.”

  “There is precedence. She might be able to use her White power to pull you back.”

  “Without her mark, though…” He shuddered, the memory of his mother’s blood on his father’s dragon scales too much to bear. “She said she has no power, that she’s not a true Daughter. Besides, she’s extremely reluctant to mark me for fear Shadow may use it against us.”

  “Iyeh, the Shadow.” The priest swallowed hard, his eyes large and dark. “Shadow hunts for her in dreams.”

  “Her brother torments her in dreams where I cannot protect her.”

  “What if you could?”

  Zahak frowned, struggling to think through the blinding pain. “How?”

  “The Shadow stalking her dreams is the same as the Black Dragon. It’s the same spirit, the same dark essence. All of that hatred and darkest lust has become physical, mocking our heritage, using our devalki against us. Instead of the Red Dragon coming to Burn the world, the Black has come to corrupt us even more. Kill the Black, and you kill the Shadow preparing to engulf her. Kill this Shadow in the dream world, and the Black Dragon will be no more.”

  “How can I enter her dreams?”

  “I can send you to her dream, but do not accept lightly. What happens in the dream will mirror our world. If you die there, you’ll die here. If you transform to your dragon there, you’ll be a dragon here, too. You will fight two battles at once. Lose one, and lose her forever to Shadow.”

  “Send me to her.”

  Shaddad’Agni picked up a small cup and helped him raise his head. “This will help speed your healing as well. As soon as you fall asleep, use your bond to seek her out. Tell her, now, to fall asleep so you may draw the Shadow out of hiding.”

  :I need you to sleep, azharana.:

  He felt the cold wash of fear in her mind, the terror shivering through her. :Darius...:

  :There are two ways I can reach you. I can transform to a dragon, fly to fight the Black and hope that I don’t eat you as readily. Or I can come to your dream. The priest assures me he can send me to you.:

  :But the dragon won’t be in my dream.:

  :Trust me.:

  She answered immediately. :All right, I’ll find a way.:

  * * *

  Oh, what irony. After all these years of fearing to sleep, jerking awake at the smallest hint of a dream, now she needed to sleep, and she couldn’t.

  Her tongue felt thick and swollen in her mouth despite the water Malum had given her. He dared not give her much when Amin was paying attention, which unfortunately, had been often in the later hours of the afternoon. Lying here like a slab of meat in the oven, her back had long since crisped, and split, and burned again. Every little shift was agony, skin and muscle pulling apart. Falling asleep was physically impossible.

  She had one chance.

  “Amin!” Her voice sounded terrible, barely more than a whisper, but she knew he heard. His boots shifted in the sand not three feet from her head. “For the last time, release me before Zahak comes.”

  “Why should I?” She could hear the sneer in his voice, as well as the dread.

  “You’re afraid of him.”

  “Shut your mouth, munakura. You know nothing about me!”

  “I know you’re afraid of your brother. Your voice shakes like a little girl’s whenever you speak of him.”

  Muttering, Amin paced back and forth, deliberately kicking grit in her face.

  “You thought he’d be here by now, right?” She tried to laugh but it sounded more like a cough. “The dragon’s going to wake up soon. Who’s going to keep it from eating you first?”

  “He’ll be too busy eating you to care about me.”

  She forced another wheezing laugh from her parched mouth. “Did you see the size of that monster? I’m just his appetizer. You’ll be the main course.”

  “The priest foretold...” Amin squatted down to search her face, his eyes wild. “What do you know about the dragon? What did they tell you?”

  Shadows clung to him with the skittering sound of rats in a dungeon and the stink of fear and sweat. Amin was terrified, but not of his brother. Staring into his face, she knew the certainty in her words. “He’s come for you.”

  “Shut up!” Amin glared at her, but his hands shook as he rubbed his face. “You don’t know. You can’t.”

  “He whispers in your dreams.” The man blanched, and she suddenly knew why Zahak would come to battle the dragon in her dream. She didn’t understand how it was possible, but Darius must be the Black Dragon. It made so much sense.

  Raising her head as much as she could, she laughed in the man’s face. “Shadow is coming for you, Amin, and your big brother isn’t here to save you.”

  He reared back and slammed his fist into her face.

  Darkness closed around her, and for the first time in her life, she welcomed it.

  TEN

  Her arms ached and black rock bit into her cheek and stomach. Chained against the Spire as she’d been chained to the desert floor, she fought to pull free. Terror crawled through her, shredding her nerves. The black rock felt nastily hungry against her naked flesh. It abraded her so it could taste her blood. Tugging and straining in vain, she finally sagged in the chains, panting for breath.

  She had to be calm and think. First, she needed to call Zahak to this terrible place so he could free her.

  At that thought, she felt his bond roar to life inside her stronger than ever. In her mind, he galloped toward her on his rangy horse, the black cloak flapping about him like wings. An internal bonfire seared her already scorched skin. Concentrating, she brought the flames under control and reached for him.

  :I’m coming, azharana.: Although he felt miles away in this dreamscape, the hoof beats pounded
in her skull. :Is Darius with you?:

  :Not yet.: Her skin itched with nerves, terror making her breath short and fast. He could be standing behind her and she wouldn’t know. He’d relish finding her like this, trapped and helpless for his little games. :Hurry!:

  Zahak leaned low over his horse’s neck, flying over the night sands.

  “Isn’t this delicious.”

  Eleni froze, her heart stuttering in her chest.

  “Most impressive. I certainly do appreciate your Keldari’s sense of sacrifice. I’m very pleased, dearest.”

  Pressing her cheek against the Spire, she kept her eyes squeezed shut. She didn’t want to see the horrible amusement and lust darkening his gaze. :He’s here.:

  Grim silence was her answer from Zahak, but his bond rang like drawn steel, cold, furious, and viciously sharp.

  Darius came to stand directly behind her, so close she could feel the taint rolling off him. The stench of death and rot gagged her. He dipped his head, deliberately trying to catch her gaze, but she huddled closer to the foul rock. Chuckling, he touched her, just the trail of his fingers from her wrist, to her elbow, up her arm. Pain seared through her despite his gentleness.

  Shuddering behind her, he sucked in a low, deep breath. “Ah, yes, such pain. Such fear. Will you taste as delicious as I remember? Or has the savage tainted your sweet blood?”

  His breath heated her shoulder, stinging the burns. Her heart tried to pound out of her chest; thundering blood roared in her ears. Even here in the dream, her tongue felt like a wad of cotton. She tried to swallow, to say something, anything, to distract him, but the whimper of pain and fear only excited him.

  “I’m going to taste your blood,” he whispered. “Don’t move, don’t fight me, and I won’t hurt you, at least not yet.”

  She erupted, fighting the chains and screaming raggedly. She kicked, threw her head back, anything to discourage him. Flames roared through her veins; Zahak’s rage was a hot, thick red glow in the corner of her mind, growing with every beat of her heart.

  Bleeding from scratches all over the front of her body, she collapsed against the rock. Sweat dripped into her eyes and burned down her poor back.

  Darius took a long, loud sniff and laughed. “Ah, fresh blood to flavor your pain. How delightful.”

  His mouth touched her neck, his tongue trailing across her shoulder. Her mind skittered, thoughts jumbled, blackness soaking into her pores. Flames danced inside her, though, fierce and strong, magical and lovely in their destruction. They incinerated her fears and burned away her weakness until her thoughts were crystal clear.

  Her heart filled with Zahak, the warmth in his eyes, the tenderness in his hands. Wind rushed through her mind, wings pounding, soaring through a midnight sky. She was wrapped around him, spiraling higher where nothing could touch her, nothing except the pure, silver light of the full moon and the kiss of clean, cool night.

  Darius hissed in frustration. He growled against her skin, his teeth ripping open her burned flesh. It didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the man riding toward her, the man who carried her heart with such tenderness.

  “You can’t hurt me.” Her words rang loud and strong, sending a resonating pulse through her body. “You can’t touch my heart.”

  “Lies,” Darius roared. His fingers closed around her wrists, squeezing painfully, while he ground himself against her back, tearing her flesh open. “Am I touching you now? Are you hurting now?”

  “I love Zahak saif’Cobra! I’m his azharana, and you can’t touch me!”

  Her brother sank his teeth into her shoulder. The blow felt like a thousand-pound boulder had slammed into her. Her arm went numb, her fingers tingled, and her head buzzed, thoughts distant and disconnected. Shadow slithered into her from that bite, pushed deeper by Darius.

  This was more than a bite. He’d marked her with his taint. Her heart slowed, throbbing sluggish and heavy, struggling to force congealing blood through her veins. Cold, black despair crept through her body with Darius’s power. She knew the taint spread toward her heart, but she couldn’t think how to stop it.

  Darius's mark: he’d put his mark in her shoulder, just as Zahak had bitten her throat. Flames burned to blackness. Her fractured mind tried to connect thoughts. Why would Darius need to put his mark on her after all this time? Why would he order her to mark Zahak, when he must know she’d try to protect her lover and refuse?

  Powers fought within her, tugging on her will, her mind, her heart, tearing her apart. Zahak was so close, holding on to his humanity with that fearsome control of the saif, when what he really wanted to do was soar into the sky, dark wings outstretched, and rend their enemies limb from limb, yet he dared not.

  But why?

  Fisting a hand in her hair, Darius jerked her face up off the black rock and pressed his right palm against her mouth. Although she wasn’t screaming, she thought he meant to silence her, until she tasted the blood, her brother’s foul, tainted blood. Choking, she tried to spit it out and refuse his bond, but it was too late. Shadow claimed another foothold in her mind, creeping ever deeper toward her heart.

  His sly, wicked laughter turned to a roar as his body shifted to scales and wings, massive, a weight to crush the world. His thoughts snaked through her mind. :So much for your great love, dearest sister. Watch me eat him limb from limb.:

  * * *

  Drawn by her terror, Zahak pushed through the dream so hard the landscape blurred, the horse disappeared, until he stood in the center of Keldar, beneath the Spire of Despair.

  His dragon bulged outward, thrashing in fury at the sight of his chained, vulnerable mate. Her back was burned black, streaked with blood dripping to the sands. Her brother, now the Black Dragon, ravaged her shoulder, tearing her damaged flesh even more while thrusting his black, foul power into her.

  Zahak felt his own mark in her neck burning, trying to counteract the Shadow soaking into her. Blistering with fire, he concentrated his dragon on that mark. She screamed, but not with pain. He answered, the dragon throwing its head back with savage joy.

  The big black beast turned toward him, evil red eyes blazing with hatred. With a wing span of thirty paces or more, his head to tail length equally great, the Black was the biggest dragon he’d ever seen. The deserts of Keldar didn’t grow them so big. It couldn’t without such sparse resources.

  This dragon had fed well and often.

  He fed on Eleni’s dreams, on her blood, on her fears.

  But Shadow would feed no more.

  Centering himself, Zahak drew the scimitar and short blade. His caged dragon paced and lashed its tail, furious and desperate to fight the opposing male. He ignored it and focused all his efforts on the massive Black. He couldn’t afford any distractions.

  Spewing acrid smoke and poison, the beast rushed at him, tail snapping back and forth. Zahak stood firm until the last possible moment, then threw himself to the side, rolling to his back and slashing the scaled underbelly flowing above him. Dragons instinctively fled from such a deadly threat, but not this Black. Bellowing, it tried to drop its full bulk on him.

  Shaken, Zahak scrambled out from beneath the crushing scales. Claws sliced into his side, foul breath close, choking him. He rolled, drawing the curved blade against the armored hide, managing a small cut at the weaker joint of the front leg.

  Most dragons would have reared up and tended to their wounds, roaring with fury. The Black certainly roared, but it sounded more like laughter. It didn’t pause at all. Whirling around, the big Black used its tail to knock Zahak into the side of the cliff. Ribs creaking, he concentrated on breathing as the tail slammed him again and again.

  Well of sand, dragons don’t fight like this!

  He threw himself forward into a rolling crouch, ducking beneath the tail again. Still laughing that terrible roar, the Black returned to slicing with teeth and claws. Going on the offensive, Zahak fought close, using the scimitar to block the razor claws. He let the beast tear into his arm and che
st so he could get the short blade closer to the baleful eyes, but he missed.

  Left arm hanging useless and dripping blood with every step, he finally thrust the short blade into the beast’s sinuous neck. The Black shrieked and withdrew.

  Zahak ran to Eleni and hacked at the chains binding her to the Spire. The chains had eaten into her flesh, burning her skin as black as the sun had done. The rock itself had torn her flesh. The dragon bite on her shoulder was inflamed, already festering with fever.

  Struggling to catch his breath, he tugged on the chains desperately, watching for the beast to attack again. Blood, he was losing too much blood, and he hadn’t delivered a mortal wound. His mind whirled, trying to find the best way to kill the beast.

  “You can’t win this way.” Her voice was raw and hoarse, aching with love.

  Refusing to meet her gaze, he used the scimitar to pry the foul metal up out of her wrist, wincing at her cry of pain. If nothing else, he would get her free, perhaps send her back to the waking world. But the dragon waited for her, there, too.

  Great Agni, what can I do to save her?

  Yanking her wrist free of the corrosive chain, she cupped his cheek with her palm, forcing him to look into her eyes. “You’re losing, aren’t you?”

  “He’s like any other dragon,” Zahak lied, forcing lightness to his voice.

  “No, he’s not. You’re wounded, and this is his power, his dream. You need more.” Her gaze hardened, those gorgeous shining eyes capturing him in their brilliance. She fisted a hand in his hair and jerked him closer. Her scent filled his nose, sweet night blooming jasmine, and his heart bled, the dragon shrieking in agony.

  I can’t bear to lose her.

  “I love you, Zahak saif’Cobra,” she whispered in his ear.

  And then she sank her teeth into his neck.

  * * *

  Please, please let this work.

  Braced for the Fire in his blood, Eleni let the fierce pleasure wash over her. It felt wondrously right to put her mark on him, a sign of possession. His mark in her neck throbbed, matching their heartbeats. His dragon roared through the bond, calling to its mate. Wild, free, vicious, the beast reveled in her teeth, her hunger for the blood pouring into her mouth.