He looked down at Tani and wanted to roar, but if the last sound she heard was his voice, he didn’t want it to be in anger. He looked back at Wily whose orange eyes were still fixed on him. “If you have any idea what to do to help her, I’m willing to try anything.” It wasn’t that he really believed that the tiny newborn creature could help, because he didn’t. He just felt the need to talk to someone, anyone, and he was completely alone in the night with Tani bleeding in his arms, and Wily. So, when the wyvern lifted his lips and bared his teeth, he was more than a little surprised.
“You don’t have to threaten me,” he said.
Wily mewled, then bared his teeth again.
Steel watched him for a moment, then, feeling a little foolish, he asked a question. “Do you think biting her will save her?”
Wily mewled, looked at Tani with the saddest eyes he’d ever seen, then looked back at him and bared his teeth again.
Steel thought for a few moments, remembering that Tani had spoken to the wyvern on a few occasions and had appeared to get some sort of response from it. It was tiny, and newborn, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t intelligent.
“You love her too, don’t you?” he asked, wishing he’d had the courage to tell Tani how he felt about her. Wily mewled. “Do it,” he said, making up his mind. “Just don’t fall. If anything happens to you, Tani will kill me.”
Wily stared at him for a long moment with what Steel interpreted as surprise. “Go on and do it, Wily. She’s barely even breathing now.”
Wily crawled out of the safety of the pouch, his little claws grasping tightly to Tani’s sweater as he made his way up to her neck. Steel tilted her body toward his chest a little more to provide as much shelter from the wind as he could for the wyvern. He couldn’t see Wily any more, or what he was doing, but there was no help for it. After a few interminably long minutes that was in reality less than a minute but just felt longer to him, Wily crept back down to his pouch and climbed in. Once he was safely inside, Steel relaxed his hold a little and waited for Wily to pop his head up again.
“You did it?”
Wily mewled, which felt like a yes to Steel. “We’re going to have to teach you to nod your head up and down for yes, and shake it side to side for no.”
Wily’s head immediately nodded up and down, startling Steel more than any of the other communications he’d just had with him. “Okay, I got it, you’re smart,” he said as he checked Tani’s breathing again. It seemed to be a little better. Or maybe it was wishful thinking.
“You’re going to stick with me through this, right?” he asked Wily. The wyvern nodded his head up and down, then lowered his head on his front feet and fixed his eyes on Tani. “Good boy. You keep an eye on her for us both, Wily, and let me know if there’s a change. I’ll get us home.” Wily nodded again, and Steel turned his attention to flying. He hoped he hadn’t made a mistake. No, he told himself sternly. I will not think that way. We did what we had to do. Whatever happens next is out of our control.
Chapter 5
Tani opened her eyes, surprised to find herself standing on the mesa above the caves. She looked down, frowning when she didn’t see any people at all. None on the cliff face, none in the valley below. As she stood there, wondering what had happened to everyone, her view slowly began to change. She watched, both fascinated and confused, until she realized that she must be asleep, and this must be a dream. There was no other possible explanation. With that, she relaxed and watched the scenery around her transform from the dry, dusty red sand and rocks to something else entirely.
The earth and rocks were still red, but the view now was beautiful. A broad river ran through the valley, and there were plants and trees everywhere she looked, most of them a dark, deep green. More surprising than anything else were the dragons that slowly materialized until they were everywhere she looked. There were big ones, little ones, medium sized ones, and a few were simply enormous. They were different colors, too. Green, yellow, blue, white, brown, and every color in between. Some flew through the air, some splashed and played in the river, some laid out on the rocks, their faces to the warmth of the sun.
“This was our world, then, in the time you now see,” a voice said into her mind. She turned her head slowly to see a huge red dragon watching a group of small dragons fly in and out of the clouds overhead, her orange eyes sad. “You’re not afraid of me,” the dragon said. “I find that curious as humans have ever been fearful of dragons.”
“My parents are what we call dracons. Dragons, but mammalian rather than reptilian.”
The dragon raised one scaly foot, then paused. “May I?” Tani nodded, and laid her hand on top of the dragon’s foot, the deep red scales silky smooth and cool to the touch. The dragon closed her eyes for a few moments, then lowered her foot back to the ground. “I understand now. Your family are shifters. Your dracon greatly desires escape, but she hasn’t the strength. That makes you sad.”
“I’ve only just realized she’s there, but yes, it makes me sad,” Tani said. She looked up at the dragons playing in the sky, then back to the red dragon beside her. “The Xanti destroyed all of this.”
The red dragon bowed her head in agreement. “I am Magda, and you are called Tanjelia, is that correct?”
“Yes, it is,” Tani replied. “Am I dreaming?”
“In a sense, yes,” Magda replied. “That doesn’t make this any less real though.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Tani agreed. Magda nodded her huge head approvingly.
“The Xanti wanted the metal in our land, so they took it. But first, they set our world on fire because we had nothing to offer them. Or so they thought.” The dragon lifted her lips, then relaxed them in a smile. “Not that we would have given them anything to begin with, but that is neither here nor there.”
“The Xanti turned this world into a barren desert so that they could mine for metal,” Tani said, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry, Magda.”
“It was not our destiny to die, nor was our world meant to become what it now is,” Magda said. “But we were lucky in that three of us lived.”
“Three?”
“Or four,” Magda said with another tiny smile. “Myself, two others, and one tiny egg of the wyvern, the smallest of our kind. We hid deep below the surface, and although we were by no means untouched, we yet lived when the Xanti brought humans to Garza to mine their metals. We waited and watched to be sure the humans were honorable, and would use the gifts we would bestow upon them wisely, but we could not wait long because they were dying so quickly. Our only chance to salvage something of our race, and theirs, was fast running out.”
Magda tilted her large head, her orange eyes meeting Tani’s. “I would have you know that we did not expect the humans to become as we once were, or to take our place. They were their own race, with their own souls, but their destinies had been altered as ours had been altered. Since their new destiny, like ours, was untimely death, we felt it would not be too unforgiveable for us to change them if we also saved them in the process.”
“If it helps, I think that they would agree with you on that, Magda.”
Magda nodded slowly. “Yes, Tanjelia Dracon, it does help, very much in fact. I thank you.” Tani looked up at the young dragons playing in the sky, careful not to see the moisture in the dragon’s eyes. After a minute or two, Magda resumed her story.
“Our intention was to pass along something of ourselves, some of our essence, so that we would know our existence had not been for nothing. In doing so, the humans would become strong enough to survive. If luck held, they might even be able to rise up against those who enslaved them one day. Perhaps we were selfish and self-serving and used that as an excuse, but the fact is that without us, they would have all died within another season or two anyway.
“We believed the humans to be honorable and worthy, so we began. The earth dragon, the weakest of us, cast her essence upon the women because they were the ones who planted the seeds to grow the food to f
eed their people, which spoke to her heart. The air dragon cast his essence upon the men because they were forced against their wills into the ground, and they longed for the freedom of the open skies above them.
“Both perished afterward, as we’d expected since one cannot live without one’s essence, of course. It was left to me to finalize their gifts with magic, but we had waited too long, and my end was upon me. I was dying, and had neither the strength nor the time to fulfill my task. I needed another, someone strong of will and heart and body to finish what had been begun. But there was no one else. Only me, and the egg of the wyvern. I had no choice but to infuse the egg with my essence. With my final breath I laid a spell upon the egg such that if, and when, one with the strength of heart and mind to complete my work drew near, it would hatch.”
“So that’s why it hatched when it did.”
“Yes, that is why, and you accepted my essence into your body. Will you, Tanjelia, use that essence on behalf of the Khun, and complete my work for me?”
“Yes, Magda, if I’m able, I will,” Tani said. She hadn’t realized how tense Magda was until she relaxed after hearing her answer. The dragon all but slumped to the ground.
“I’ve no words to express my thanks, Tanjelia,” she said.
“There is no need,” Tani said. “It will be my honor to do this for you, and for the Khun. What must I do?”
“It will come to you when the time is right,” Magda said. “In return for your aid, I would offer you a small gift of understanding.”
“Understanding?”
“You have a question with no answer,” Magda said, her eyes going to the pendant resting on Tani’s chest.
“Yes, I do,” Tani said, reaching up to touch the ruby dragon with one finger. “Is this changing me?”
“No,” Magda said. “It only enhanced what was already there, for your benefit.”
“Enhanced,” Tani said. “You say that in the past tense.”
“Because its work is complete,” Magda said.
“But why?”
“You are the honorable and deserving namesake of one who is powerful, even in the beyond,” Magda said. “She would have you find happiness rather than sorrow, and saw this as the path to that end.”
“Thank you for telling me this, Magda. And if you ever see Riata, please give her my thanks.”
“I shall do as you request, of course, though there is no need,” Magda said with a knowing smile. “She already knows.” The red dragon looked up at the baby dragons playing in the sky one last time. “Know that your name, Tanjelia of the Dracons, shall be forever remembered and honored by the souls of all dragons, wherever they may be.”
Magda vanished as soon as she finished speaking, which startled Tani. She still had so many questions. She looked around and saw that the other dragons were fading away as well, and knew that no more questions were going to be answered. At least, not for the time being. She looked around and wondered what she was supposed to do now. Then she smiled. If this was a dream, all she had to do was open her eyes and wake up.
Chapter 6
Lariah Dracon waited so long for the vid terminal to connect her call that when Glory Tigren appeared on her screen it startled her a little.
“Hello, Lariah,” Glory said, and Lariah knew from the expression on her friend’s face, and the tone of her voice, that she didn’t have good news.
“What is wrong?”
“Tani lives, my friend, do not fear so.”
Some of the tension in Lariah’s shoulders eased. “Thank you, Glory. But something is wrong, I can tell.”
“She’s in a very deep sleep right now, one too deep for me to pull her out of safely,” Glory said. “I’ve seen this sort of thing before, and believe her to be in a healing sleep.”
“A healing sleep,” Lariah repeated, considering the ramifications of that phrase. “Thank you, Glory. We all appreciate your efforts so much, and I’m sorry to be so demanding.”
“I love Tani too, Lari,” Glory said gently. “And you couldn’t be demanding if you took lessons. I will continue checking on her and I’ll let you know immediately if there is any change.”
“Thank you, my friend,” Lariah said, refusing to allow the tears to fall. Glory bowed, and Lariah closed the connection. She took a deep breath to compose herself before turning to see her men who’d entered quietly while she spoke with Glory.
“We missed the first part of that,” Trey said.
“She thinks that Tani is in a healing sleep,” Lariah said.
Garen crossed the room, lifted her straight up out of the chair and cradled her in his arms. Trey and Val joined them so that they made a tight circle with Lariah in the middle. “Tani is the youngest, gentlest, and kindest of our daughters, Sharali, but she is also the toughest, and the strongest.”
Lariah smiled, pride lighting her eyes. “Yes, she is. I’ve often wondered about that. What her destiny must be that our gentlest child should excel in the arts of war.”
“Whatever it is, Salene and Rayne seem confident that she will be happy,” Trey said.
“Yes, they are,” Lariah agreed. “We’re so lucky, are we not?”
“Lucky?” Garen asked doubtfully. “Our daughter has been missing for many days now. I fail to see how that can be construed as lucky.”
“And yet, we’re lucky nonetheless,” Lariah insisted. “Lucky to have Glory Tigren, a Dream Walker, who can speak with Tani in the only way possible, so that we have some knowledge as to her wellbeing, and her whereabouts. Lucky that all of our daughters are strong young women with the knowledge and skills necessary to survive on their own in the Thousand Worlds. Lucky to have each other to lean on in this difficult time.”
“You’re right, of course,” Val said. “We have many blessings to count.”
“I concede your point,” Garen said, “but it will be a lot easier to count those blessings after we’re able to see and speak with our daughter in person.”
***
Tani opened her eyes and frowned when she saw Steel standing in the doorway with his back to her, stretching. “Steel?”
Steel froze with his arms in the air, his mouth open in a yawn, his back arched. He closed his mouth and lowered his arms as he turned around, moving very slowly, almost afraid to find that he’d just imagined hearing Tani speak his name. When he saw her gray eyes looking up at him, his own eyes filled with tears. He dropped to his knees beside her and reached for her hand, unable to find words to express his overwhelming relief.
Wily awoke at that moment from his place on the pillow beside her and immediately climbed up onto her shoulder and began wriggling like a puppy, flapping his little wings in excitement. Steel and Tani both laughed at the little wyvern, who continued to wriggle and bounce around happily, clicking and mewling until he finally settled down on her shoulder, his orange eyes fixed on her face.
“Steel?” she asked again, frowning as she took in his appearance. The more she saw, the more worried she became. His clothes were wrinkled, he looked exhausted, and there were dark circles beneath his eyes. “How long?”
“This is the second morning after the raid, so one day and two nights,” Steel replied in a hoarse voice. “How do you feel?”
“Thirsty,” she said. He reached over to something beside the bed and she heard water being poured. She took a quick inventory of herself and, since she felt perfectly fine, she pushed herself to a sitting position. Steel frowned, but she smiled. “I’m fine, Steel.” He nodded and handed her the glass. She drank nearly half of it before stopping.
“I remember the raid, everything went well, then…something happened, right?”
“Yes, you were shot.”
“I was shot?” she asked in surprise. “I don’t remember that.”
“I will never forget it,” Steel said, his dark brows lowering. “Especially since you leapt in front of me, taking the shot meant for me.”
Tani saw the barely controlled emotion in Steel’s eyes as he sp
oke, and hoped he wouldn’t lose his temper. “It can’t have been too bad because I feel perfectly fine.”
“It was very bad, and you feel fine only because Wily saved you.”
“Wily?” she asked, surprised. She looked down at the wyvern clinging to her t-shirt and smiled. “Thanks Wily. I’m glad you were there.” Wily mewled, then nodded his head up and down happily. “What did he do, Steel?”
Steel told her all that had happened after she’d been shot, including Wily’s bite. “When we finally reached home I brought you here, to Astra’s cave, since there’s no one in the clinic that could have helped you anyway. As much as I hoped that Wily’s bite would help you, I never expected to find that you had no wound at all by the time I was able to check. I couldn’t find a single mark on you even though your clothes and mine were drenched in your blood. My relief didn’t last too long though because I couldn’t wake you up no matter how hard I tried.”
“I remember now,” Tani said, the memories growing as he spoke.
“Good, then there is no chance that you’ll misunderstand me when I say that never, ever again will you offer your life for mine. You will swear this to me, right now.”
“I can’t,” Tani said. Steel frowned and she sighed. “Something warned me that you were in danger. I don’t know what it was. Call it a hunch or intuition or whatever you want. There was no time to warn you, no time to do anything but act. Did you expect me to stand there and watch you die?”
“Did you expect me to stand there and watch you die?” he retorted.
Unable to think of a way to answer that without upsetting him further, she decided to change the subject. “What about Khurda and Marbic? Were they able to damage the Nomen’s ship?”
Steel’s eyes narrowed. He knew she was changing the subject in an effort to calm him down and it annoyed him to know she was right to do so. “Fine,” he huffed. “But we will return to this subject.” Tani nodded as though she expected no less, but he wasn’t fooled. “After Khurda tossed a grenade into the main engine bell and shattered the injector plate, yes, they were able to damage their ship. They didn’t destroy it, of course, but it will require a few days for repairs. The Nomen have already replaced the injector plate, and it looks like they’ve gotten a couple of the ground transports running, but the ship is still grounded.”
Tani's Destiny (Hearts of ICARUS Book 2) Page 19