Dragon School_Bright Hopes

by Sarah K. L. Wilson

“I thought so,” Hubric said smugly.

  “If you don’t mind, would you lower my sleeve?” Shonan said crisply. “It’s hard to adjust it with just one hand.

  “Of course.” Hubric had the grace to look embarrassed, but he rallied quickly. “And this means that we have four Lightbringers here. Enough to say the words over my apprentice and properly induct her.”

  Analia and Haskel were nodding enthusiastically and even Shonan nodded though he said, “You know, you could have asked.”

  But Hubric had never been the asking kind. They gathered around me, to my surprise, each placing a hand on one of my shoulders.

  “Do you love light and truth? Have you sworn to pursue them all the days of your life?” Analia intoned.

  “Yes,” I said. It felt strange to be so much the center of attention.

  “Join us – with my blessing - as a bringer of Light into dark places,” Haskell said.

  “Join us – with my testimony to your character – as a guardian of Truth,” Hubric said. He was practically glowing with pride. I knew this was a big deal to him, but it was like I was being crowned a ruler, not simply officially inducted into their sect.

  “Join us – with my blessing,” Analia said, “to stand until strength ends and life fades.”

  “Join us.” Shonan’s deep baritone felt final, “with my testimony and blessing – as a courageous warrior against the dark.”

  It shouldn’t have meant as much to me as it did. It shouldn’t have filled me with hope – not when I was in a cage. But it was like the inside of me was light and warmth just waiting to bubble out. I held back a grin. Now was not the time for grinning.

  I think it’s always the time to grin.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The trailer stopped so suddenly that we were all jarred in our seats. The sun was sinking in the west, and at first, I thought our guards wanted to stop to make camp. Around us, awed tones and excitement filled the air. I watched one guard nudge another, pointing to the sky and then a rider from the back of the group rode past at a gallop. What could have them so excited? I followed the pointing hands and wondering gazes to a place right above the horizon toward Dominion city.

  As soon as I saw it, my heart froze, acid burning my throat. There, hanging in the sky was a smoky symbol – a spiral with a diagonal line running through it – the sign of the Dusk Covenant. It was as if they had claimed the skies as their own.

  They have.

  I thought Raolcan was in his deep sleep.

  I wake up from time to time to make sure you haven’t gotten into more trouble.

  This time I wasn’t the one making trouble. Whoever had written the sign of chaos and dusk in the sky – that was the person making trouble. Now, as a formal member of the Lightbringers, that was a sign of all that I was against from the center of my bones to the thoughts zipping back and forth in my brain.

  I’m guessing it’s Starie. And smoke pictures aren’t the only trouble she’ll be making.

  I swallowed. I’d known that girl was trouble from the moment I met her, but along the way, she’d often seemed as horrified by what she was becoming as I had been. Was she horrified now as she promoted Ifrits, chaos, and death? Or had she grown used to the path she’d chosen?

  It’s all too easy to grow used to bad habits. Evil is like the worst habit of all. It numbs you in all the wrong places so you can’t feel it when it slowly eats you alive.

  I shivered.

  “We need to hurry,” Shonan said, staring at the symbol. His tone was as shaken as mine was. We all felt the weight of that terrible symbol hanging in the sky. “As soon as they settle in for the night, we’ll act.”

  “Escape?” Haskell whispered.

  “Better,” Shonan said. “We’ll bring some Light and Truth to the matter.”

  Why did that sound so intense? Like it was more powerful than thunder and lightning?

  Because truth usually is. I’m going back to sleep. Wake me when you start. And try to be hopeful. Remember that prophecy you read? About how you shouldn’t lose hope when you see the sign in the sky? Remember that one.

  It took our captors too long to settle in for the night. But eventually, they set their tents up, built fires, gave us our meager rations and tended the horses. The night was already cool and dark when they gathered around their fires and settled in.

  “Gather in a ring on the floor,” Shonan ordered as we scrambled to obey.

  Hubric helped him down and I carefully eased Savette onto the floor, following her to sit with her head cradled on my lap. She hadn’t woken all day except to cough. That wasn’t a good sign.

  “Throw the blankets over us like a tent,’ Shonan whispered as Haskel and Analia hurried to do as he instructed. “We need privacy. Can I rely on you apothecaries to manage the blankets, stand guard, and keep everything quiet? If we are discovered, all is lost.”

  “You can rely on us,” Analia said gravely.

  Haskel ducked out of the blankets. “I’ll keep an eye out from here.”

  “And Hubric, you will be needed to read from the Ibrenicus Prophecies. Can you see well enough by the faint light Amel and I give off under these blankets?”

  “Not quite,” Hubric said.

  Gently, I tugged Savette’s blindfold off. Her eyes had faded to a ghost of the light they once shed, but it was still enough to increase the light beneath the blankets.

  “That will do,” Hubric said, opening his book. “Any particular prophecy that you have in mind?”

  “Start at the beginning and continue to read steadily no matter what happens afterward,” Shonan ordered. It must be so ingrained in him to give orders that he didn’t even realize he was doing it.

  “Very well.” Hubric opened the book and began to read in a calm, steady tone. “These are the prophecies collected by Ibrenicus of Haz, son of dragons. For the time comes soon in which these prophecies will be needed...”

  As he continued to read, Shonan lined himself up with me so that we were knee to knee. He shifted Savette so she was on both of our laps.

  “Do you know why Hubric is reading the book?” he asked me.

  “I do not.”

  “The Ibrenicus Prophecies contain truth. We must have truth and life all around us as we do this. Do you know why your eyes glow?”

  I shook my head.

  “You’ve come into contact with the power of truth. Did this bright one heal you?”

  “Savette. Her name is Savette.”

  “Did Savette heal you?”

  “Yes. From a fatal injury.”

  He smiled, nodding to himself. “I thought as much. She is young and does not know her way in the power of light and truth. She accidentally gave you part of herself while she healed you. That was bad for her – she needed to keep it to fight for her life – but good for you. Tell me, have you felt much pain in that bad leg of yours?”

  Now that he mentioned it, I hadn’t. “It’s felt better than ever.”

  “I suspect that she healed more than just your fatal injury. She probably healed that leg, too. I bet you haven’t tried to walk without that crutch, have you?”

  My heart thundered in my chest. Could it be true? Could I have been healed of my bad leg, too? He was right. I hadn’t tried to walk without my crutch. Why would I? I was used to being unable to rely on my leg. But it also hadn’t hurt in days. It had felt pain-free for the first time in as long as I could remember.

  “Why don’t you try to stand up and walk around?”

  I gently rolled Savette onto his lap. I probably shouldn’t. We should be focused on her, right now, but the curiosity was so strong. I’d just see if he was right and then I’d sit right back down again.

  I stood, without help from my cane. Stood, and grabbed the side of the cage with one hand – not because I as in danger of falling, no my leg felt strong and firm and reliable under me – and it felt good. I grabbed that bar to hold me up because my heart was hammering in my chest and my ears felt like they wou
ld burst from the roar of excitement in my mind. I couldn’t think a thought. I couldn’t breathe. Hope roared up and filled me so full that I wanted to run, to leap, to laugh until my sides ached. It couldn’t be true, could it? I couldn’t be healed completely – could I? Why hadn’t I realized it?

  I stretched, feeling so, so good and leapt up onto one of the benches, walking down the length of it and reveling in the capable feeling of every step. I could rely on this leg. I could let it be able and sure under me. I walked a lap around the cage before reminding myself that I had to be responsible. I had to go back in and care for the sweet friend who made this possible for me.

  I ducked back into the tent, my face hot with excitement. It felt too enclosed in here. I should be running across the fields right now, breathing in fresh air while my strides stretched out over the ground. I shouldn’t be in a stuffy cage.

  “Feels good, doesn’t it?” Shonan was smiling as Hubric continued to read, dutifully, from his book of prophecies.

  “It’s like a dream,” I said. I couldn’t keep the grin off my face. Raolcan was right. I should be grinning all the time. Raolcan! I’d promised to wake him.

  Wake up, Raolcan, wake up! He wasn’t listening. Likely, his sleep was too deep. But that was okay, because there was all the time in the world for him to celebrate with me. We needed to turn to Savette, because her time was fading.

  “Healing gifts are like that. They give us gifts we couldn’t have imagined.” His voice was gentle, but there was a sadness behind it. Was he sad because his missing arm was still gone? I would be – had been – sad when others were healed and not me.

  “Maybe we can heal your arm like that,” I said, hopefully.

  He laughed, but his laugh was wistful. “I think not, Dragon Rider. That is not part of my story. And now I have to ask you a hard question.”

  He paused, and I couldn’t help but push him to hurry. I didn’t feel still or patient. I felt exuberant and lively.

  “What question?”

  “How much do you love your friend?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  His gaze was intense, as if he was asking me something terribly hard to answer, which was ridiculous because the answer was so easy.

  “Very much. I think that maybe I’m here to keep her alive.”

  He nodded gravely. “And what would you give to heal her now?”

  I answered without pause. “Whatever it takes.”

  A tear slid down his cheek. Why? Was he okay? I leaned in, worried about him.

  “Amel, we can heal her, you and I. We’ll concentrate on the truth Hubric is reading and any part that really resonates, you’ll lean into and I’ll do the same. As soon as we are both in tune with the truth of the words, I can help pull her from the land of death and back to the land of life, cutting the bond between her and the dragon who was tied to her soul. It’s possible, but difficult. I have not done it before though I have read about the theory behind it.”

  “I can do my part,” I agreed. I could listen just fine.

  He smiled gently. “But at this point, even breaking that bond will not save her. Her own life has dwindled too much. She needs to be given back the gift she gave you – her light.” Would that mean I’d die? The gift she’d given me was my life. “You won’t die, if that’s what you’re thinking. That injury was healed intentionally and isn’t tied to what she did accidentally. But, I fear that she accidentally left some of her light in you and it is bound up in the healing of your leg. If you choose to help me – that healing – the healing of your long-time injury - will be gone.”

  I felt the blood drain from my face. He should never have told me in the first place! I felt like my bottom had dropped out – I was too heavy in my feet and legs, too light in my head. If he’d never told me I was healed, I wouldn’t feel now like he was ripping a gift from my hands!

  “I had to tell you,” he said, as if he understood. “This choice can only be made by you. It wouldn’t be fair for anyone to make it for you or to lie about the sacrifices involved. What do you choose?”

  I wanted so badly to choose my legs. Just to run once – it would be a dream come true. My own tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, hot and streaming. But I would never take something good for myself when that meant the destruction of someone else. I’d never put my happiness, my freedom, my own life over Savette’s. Would I? I needed to make the right choice before my desires took over my reason and changed my heart.

  I held my hand out and Shonan clasped my forearm in his one hand. Beneath our clasped arms, Savette’s body shook with coughing.

  “We need to do this quickly,” I said. “I don’t want her to suffer a moment more.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Shonan tightened his grip on my shaking arm and waited until I met his gaze. The power blazing in his brown eyes held me captive. I couldn’t look away – didn’t want to. In the background, someone cursed and scrambled to pull the flapping edge of the blanket back into place. The wind was whipping up around our cage, flapping the blanket and riffling the pages of Hubric’s prophecy book. Now that I was gazing into the true Dominar’s eyes my mind focused on what Hubric was reading.

  “And one will come from the north, burning, burning,

  Judgment and Wisdom bourn by the flow of spirit to spirit

  Do not speak to us of the times that follow,

  For they shall be as a dream of death as a nightmare walking,

  The dusk shall vanquish all but the covenant until the dawn of the tide,” Hubric read.

  I focused on the Dominar’s eyes as a roll of thunder boomed in the distance.

  “Focus on the truth of who Savette is and what she means for us,” Shonan said. I leaned into the words Hubric was saying, thinking of all the hopes we had tied up in Savette as our talisman. “All you have to do is focus on the truth and remain open. I will do the rest.”

  I hoped he knew what he was doing. If Savette had accidentally given me part of herself when she healed me – and she was very powerful! – what might the Dominar do if he didn’t get this quite right? And for that matter, did anyone out there know that he, too, possessed the strange magic Savette wielded? I’d never heard rumors of that.

  “Focus,” he reminded, and I let myself drift on the words Hubric was reading.

  “For our enemy captures all who oppose him.

  He gathers them up in one place under his sign

  And that sign is the sign of destruction and woe to all who love light and truth.

  But the Chosen One is not far off, the bright one comes,

  Death cannot prevent it, the bonds of the next life cannot drag our salvation away,”

  Let’s make sure they didn’t. I focused on my knowledge of who Savette was – courageous, determined, responsible. She had sacrificed part of herself to heal me. She shouldn’t die with Eeamdor. We still needed her here.

  “The hidden one, still powerful, draws out death,” Hubric read. This had to mean the Dominar, right? “Healing comes from the one who pays a steep price.

  In this, victory will begin to grow like the first sprout of a mighty oak

  And our hopes, bright as the dawn will rise over the horizon of our hearts.”

  I leaned into those words, focusing on the hope and the victory that could sprout with Savette. A victory against darkness, evil and the demonic creatures of the dust that were terrorizing our land.

  When had the rain begun? Our blanket was drenched and the sky dark. I could hear the patter of it all around us, as lighting lanced back and forth in the sky.

  “Focus,” Shonan whispered. With effort, I turned my mind from the storm and back to Savette.

  “And the people will be free of terror and the nations of uproar,

  when the Chosen One brings truth to the heart of the Dominion,

  when the dominion of darkness comes to an end.”

  We needed that! I concentrated my mind on how badly we needed it and then the light around us began to grow
.

  Shonan closed his eyes, but light poured out around his eyelids. His forearm glowed, too, as if the symbol of the Lightbringers was glowing beneath the skin. My own vision blurred for a moment before clearing. Was I glowing, too? The light in his arm seemed to sear my own, but I held on tight.

  Light filled our tiny enclosed space and then someone yelled and the blanket tore loose, whipping away and smacking the side of the cage with a wet sound. A spear of lightning lanced upward from us to the sky – as thick as my body and so long that I couldn’t see the top of it. A sound like a thunderclap hit me and I rocked, only the Dominar’s tight grip on my arm keeping me from flying backward. The light blinded me. Gasping, I blinked as purple afterimages and bright white light filled my gaze successively. I concentrated on my breath.

  Breathe, Amel. That’s right. One breath, two, three ... my vision began to clear at four though it was mostly just blurry shapes. There was a shout – it sounded like Hubric.

  At five, I was shoved roughly backward. I felt the weight of Savette still on my lap. There were shouts from outside the cage coming closer and the sound of panic in Analia’s voice as she spoke to Hubric.

  At six, my vision cleared completely, though everything was rolling around me. I must be dizzy. Our captors were pouring towards our cage, anger on their faces and shouts filling the air. Someone shoved my head down and the dizziness began to lessen.

  “Breathe deep breaths,” Haskel said roughly.

  There were legs around me. Hubric’s. Analia’s. Shonan’s. I realized after a moment that they were standing over us to protect us. Somehow, my crutch had ended up underneath me. I wiggled it loose and strapped it to my arm. If we’d done what we planned to do, I would need it close by. If we’d succeeded, I’d never again walk as freely as I had a few minutes ago.

  “What happened here?” Someone shouted from outside the cage. “What is that light?”

  I looked up. Shonan still glowed very faintly, but not enough for anyone to notice. I looked down at Savette lying next to me. Her eyes glowed bright again and her breathing was easy. I let out a long breath. It had worked. I could even see some color in her cheeks again. But how long would it be until she was recovered enough to be able to use her truth-power?