She reached down and patted Dinsa’s leathery, scale covered side, giving him a wink at the same time. “No, but I suppose he does all the work, yes?”
He’d never flown one either and started to say so, but his mouth had gone as dry as the deserts surrounding his home. He licked his lips and pulled at the humidity in the air. It didn’t help. His hearts jackhammered against each other, speeding up to a lighting like pace and sweat popped out all over his upper body, plastering his shirt to his skin.
Lanni’s silver eyes filled with concern. “Arin? Are you alright?”
He nodded slowly. “Fin—“ He couldn’t manage more past the dryness coating his tongue. “I…”
Darkness clouded the edges of his vision and he blinked rapidly to clear it. It didn’t help. The shroud tightened until he could barely see her but her words held some comfort.
“Hold on big guy, just hold on!”
***
Warmth caressed her face and Terra sighed softly. She drew the fresh ocean air into her lungs, loving the cooling effect of the breeze on her sweat soaked skin. A wave crashed nearby and her eyes snapped open.
Blinking twice, she focused on the water lapping at the sand.
Sand?
Why was she on sand? She shouldn’t be. She should still be tucked into the base of the tree…
A second breeze caressed her cheeks and she closed her eyes, enjoying the moment of tranquility. She didn’t hurt anymore and looked down at her gut. The wound was still there, still oozing and she poked at it gingerly, but there was no corresponding pain shooting through her body.
“Huh…am I dead?”
A deep rumbling chuckle was her answer. She turned toward it, spying a figure in the distance. It was a male and she recognized the outline of Draven’s broad shoulders and long legs. His hands were tucked into his pockets and he wore a white button down shirt that had been rolled up to his elbows. The muscles in his forearms rippled as he came to a stop next to her and held out a hand.
She took it and he pulled her up off the sand without effort. A single step separated them and she took the initiative to close the distance. “I’m bleeding,” she whispered. “I’ll mess up your clothes.”
It was the most inane thing to say, but it was all she could think of.
He hadn’t let go and kissed her knuckles like a knight out of the fairy tales she read whenever she had the chance. “Shhh,” he whispered against her skin. “I do not care.”
Lava backed flames ripped through her muscles, veins and tendons with the intensity of the sun and his presence momentarily overrode any thoughts of evil Unicorns or their ugly Satyr minions. But it all came back, too quickly for her liking and she couldn’t stop her next questions. “What happened? How did you escape?”
He chuckled again, the sound rolling over her in another wave of heat. His molten eyes locked with hers and he smiled sadly. “I did not. I am still their prisoner.”
Another breeze kicked up and shifted the hair around his neck. She tucked the strands back with a gentle swipe of blood coated fingers. “Then how are you here?”
Draven’s eyes slipped closed and smoke coiled slowly out of his nostrils. He shifted forward and leaned his forehead to hers. “I am not.”
She nuzzled against him. Why was he was being so cryptic?
“Tell me what’s going on, Draven, please?”
There was a begging quality in her voice that she hated, but if she was going to get answers, directness seemed to be the best way to go about it.
The smoke cloud grew and began to cloak him in a dark grey shroud. He was fading away and she tightened her fingers around his. He dropped her hand and brought both up to grip her arms, giving her a small shake. “Tell Arin what happened. He can figure it out!”
“Arin? Who’s Arin?”
He pushed through the darkness, his eyes shifting through the same myriad of colors they always did when she stared into them. “Tell Arin!”
She squirmed her arms loose and wrapped them around his neck, hoping that would keep him from disappearing. His curled around her back, tightening to pull her into his chest.
The fire in her veins jolted up another notch. It pulsed through her, pounding under her skin relentlessly and she wanted to explode. Her bones creaked, trying to expand against her muscles.
Draven’s hand came up under her hair, curling around the back of her neck possessively. “Let go, Kyleri,” he whispered in her ear. “Just let go.”
She staggered a back a step, staring up into his color shifting eyes, heart pounding the blood into her ears. The endearment he’d whispered, tugged at her very soul. “What?”
He bent close, lightly nibbling at her lips. “Just let go.”
She collapsed against him, throwing her arms around his neck again. “I—I can’t. I won’t!” she cried as he faded away completely.
Terra fell forward but caught herself and turned in a circle, searching for him. He was nowhere to be seen and her heart sank into the sand.
The sound of flapping wings drew her attention down the beach. A massive shadow drifted over her and she glanced up, squinting into the sun. A dragon almost as long as Enon hovered over something ten feet away. Its long wings swirled the pristine granules into the air with each downward beat and a rainbow of colors twirled down the length of its body.
It landed with a teeth rattling thud and turned its SUV sized head her way.
She jerked, stunned to her core as she locked eyes with the pools of silver in its face.
Was that, her?
Of course I am you.
She gulped, hard and croaked out a single word. “What?”
Long lips parted over equally long teeth and without another syllable, it drove its wings into the sand. They folded in and came back up, lifting her broken, bleeding body. Drawing it close to its breast plate, it continued to smile as the two melded together.
You are me, I am you. We are one, Kyleri.
It turned toward her after that cryptic statement, its head pulling up as it drew in a long, deep breath. The wind tugged at her, pulling her toward the open maw.
Was it going to eat her spirit, like it just had her body?
Surely not. They were one and the same, weren’t they? How could you eat yourself!?
A vice clamped around her torso and she dug her feet in, leaning back against the current of air. It didn’t work and she spiraled toward the creature, arms flailing. She slammed into its breast plate and like her physical body before her, melted into the thick, pearlescent scales…
***
Lanni stared through the window of Arin and Terra’s room. The sun was setting, coloring the horizon with an odd combination of greens and blues. The spires of Kelas, the Cyclops city, glittered in the fading light and she smiled as the windows in the distance began to illuminate against the growing darkness.
As they’d flown in, she’d really wanted to give the place a good look, but Terra and the unconscious Arin, were the more immediate priority. Now that she had a moment though, she gave the skyline a long once over.
Buildings of every conceivable shape, size and color had been constructed around a central core, spiraling out to the beach she could just see in the distance and then off to the east, toward Bra’ka, for a good 10 miles or so. Other than that, there was no real conformity to it. Some were tall, 30 plus stories stretching for the blue-black clouds above. Others were much shorter, maybe ten floors, and yet more had just one story.
Some were domed with wondrously curved glass that glittered and sparkled in the rays of the setting sun. Others were topped with twisting spires that had been fashioned to resemble smoke twirling into the air. And yet more had been constructed in varying shapes. She could see octagons, pentagrams, triangles, hexagons all within just a few blocks of the medical building they’d landed on.
It was a mishmash variety and so fascinating that she wanted to leave the hospital and simply explore the streets. She couldn’t, of course, but she rea
lly wanted too.
With a sigh, she turned from the window as one of the Harpy doctors entered.
“Will they be alright?”
The youngish looking female, Rinja, lifted a feather covered hand and rubbed it down her golden beak. “Surgery went well,” she said in that calm tone only a doctor had. “Your sister’s injury was severe and I am still worried over possible internal complications. She came through it but will need monitoring for many rotations.”
She jerked her chin toward Arin’s bed. “And him?”
“Chimera are extraordinary healers. He should be on his feet in a rotation or two.” Sharp, black eyes gave her the once over. “You are the one that chose to push the bolt through, yes?”
She nodded. “The book I read said it was the best course of action in such situations.”
One corner of Rinja’s beak tilted up with a small, if tired, smile. “Good thought. Satyr’s love their poisons. It you had not, he would have died from it long before you arrived.”
Her heart tripped over itself and she let out a relieved sigh as the doctor headed out of the room again.
She should stay here, but neither Terra nor Arin looked like they’d wake soon. She’d left Dinsa and Shada on the roof and for his efforts, she should, at the very least, make sure he was ok.
It shouldn’t take long. Finding a door easily enough, she tiredly trudged up the stairs. It’d been almost twenty-four hours since she’d had any sleep and she yawned widely as she exited onto the roof.
Dinsa hadn’t moved. He’d actually curled up in the corner, his regal head tucked back under his wing.
Shada was not too far away, standing sentinel over his brother. His rider, Ion, stood with him, occasionally reaching out to give the Roc an affectionate pat.
She eased into their line of sight, touching Dinsa as she passed. “How’s Shada?”
Ion’s eyes cut her way briefly before drifting back toward the city below. “He is fine. I am worried for Dinsa.”
“Oh? Why?”
A burst of air rushed from his lungs only to be drawn back in. “The bond with a Roc is strong. It is for life.”
“So, Dinsa will die, without Corwin? Is that what you’re saying?”
Again, Ion cut a look her way. “When the Rider is lost, the Roc goes into a Blood Rage, killing anything and everything in its path. I have seen this many times. What I have not seen, is one form a second bond.”
As if he knew they were talking about him, Dinsa’s wing lifted and his head rose. He stood, gave a bodily shake and carefully maneuvered himself around to stand next to her, much as Shada was doing with Ion. The giant of a beast leaned its head into her upper arm and again, purred.
She, in turn, curled an arm around it, stroking calmly. “I don’t think we bonded, so much as we understand one another. Or, he understands me.” She shrugged. “I really haven’t a clue.” She tilted her gaze around and locked eyes with him, smiling gently. “I’m just glad he was there today. He saved my sister and for that I owe him a debt.”
Ion chuckled. “Then I would suggest you find a place big enough for him to sleep. Roc’s do not like to be apart from their Riders.”
Her smile widened of its own accord and she continued to stroke Dinsa’s long beak. “Will you teach me to care for him?”
Ion tilted his head in a nod. “It would be my honor.”
***
Arin drug himself out of the darkness. It took a lot of effort, but he finally cracked an eye. Pain itched at his side and shoulder but he’d had worse. It would ebb. Flopping an arm over his face, he drew in as deep a breath as he dared and let it back out slowly.
He’d never passed out before, ever.
Had the arrow hit something vital?
It must have. Like his shoulder, he’d probably been bleeding internally and the realization that he again, most likely, owed his life to a scrap of a female was unsettling. It was fact, but it didn’t mean he had to like it.
Shifting his arm out of the way, he looked around the room, spying said female curled up in a nearby chair. Her hair had long since pulled free of its braid and was strewn wildly about her face and neck, almost like she’d run out of energy on her way toward it and just flopped down. Her face was streaked with dirt, blood, and some gore but soft and relaxed at the same time. Minus the gore, would she look that good after sex?
The question filled the lower parts of his body, tempting him to reach down and ease it. But he couldn’t. Not here, not now.
She snored once, a deep rumble he wouldn’t have expected from someone so small and he couldn’t help but smile. She’d surely be mortified to know she was capable of such a noise and he kept that little tidbit to himself, for future reference of course.
As we have been reporting, an explosion rocked the Capitol City this rotation…
The low words drew his attention toward the hallway and he located the small communication station sitting at the nurse’s rotunda. Pushing back the sheet, he staggered off the bed and got as far as the door before the weakness in his limbs halted his progress. But, he was close enough to hear more and what was said next, sent his twin hearts sinking toward the basement of the building…
For more details, we take you live to the King’s Court.
Static crackled against the air and a few others paused to listen with him.
In a statement released by First Magistrate Cannis just after darkfall, we have learned that the Regents of the Five Kingdoms have all been identified as victims of the attack. A voice he didn’t recognize said. The count has been raised to 271 citizens deceased and several hundred more injured, including King Draven Taraxus.
The voice paused. I apologize but we are receiving word that Doctor Ranji, personal physician to His Majesty is making a statement. We will take you now to the Shi-so Med…
Everyone nearby stopped dead as silence stretched across the airwave. There was a rustling followed by the shaking voice of the doctor.
Thank you all for being here on such short notice. The Harpy cleared his throat. His Majesty, King Draven Taraxus arrived in our facility just after the explosion.
The hitch in his voice was not lost on Arin.
We immediately took him into surgery, but it is my sad duty to inform the citizens of Bra’ka, he did not survive…
Shock rippled through his frame, shaking every muscle all the way to the core. He turned and slid slowly to the floor, tears pooling in his eyes that he had absolutely no hope of stopping.
Chapter Sixteen
A keening wail jarred Lanni awake. Sitting up in the chair where she’d collapsed, her immediate concern was for Terra. Turning to her twin’s bed, she was relieved to find nothing out of the ordinary. The sound continued though and she searched for the source of it.
Arin was not in his. Instead she found him sitting in the doorway. His arms dangled lifelessly over his upraised knees, his head was tilted back and his lips were parted. His naked chest expanded and he let out the most sorrowful sound she’d ever heard.
It tugged at her heart, yanking her to her feet. They propelled her across the room and onto to her knees next to him. Gripping his arm, she gave it a shake. “Arin! Arin! Look at me! What’s wrong?”
Haunted eyes shifted in her direction and his face followed, bottom lip quivering. “Draven,” he whispered.
Confused, she looked beyond him into the hallway. Gathered around what passed for the nurse’s station, were several Harpy Doctors and Nurses. They stood motionless, heads back, eyes closed with their arms outstretched and a version of the wail that had come from Arin echoed off down the corridors.
Bringing her gaze back to his, her heart ripped open, leaving nothing more than a bleeding, festering muscle in her chest at the sheer amount emotion reflected in the golden pools. “What happened?”
He rolled, curling his body into a semi-fetal position on the floor and buried his head against her stomach. His arms snaked around her back, crushing against her spine to draw her close
r. “He is dead.”
***
“What happens now?”
“The King has no heir…”
“Who takes over?”
“Have any of the other Kingdoms responded?”
“Will any of them retaliate?”
The questions crisscrossed the air and Magistrate Cannis let the Councilors have their say without interruption. He sat at the head of the table, fingers tented under his chin and simply waited.
When they finally ran out of steam, he tapped a nail twice against the ornately carved wood for silence. Twelve pairs of eyes turned his way and he kept the sad smile he’d adopted firmly in place. “Gentlemen,” he said. “I understand your fears, I do. I feel much the same. It is a sad day for us all. But, we must move forward.”
He reached out and pressed the center of the remote stone. A screen at the end of the room slid down, crackled to life and a copy of their Constitution spiraled into view. “According to our laws, in the event of a King’s death, where no heir is readily apparent, succession is voted on by the Council. Once a candidate is named, he or she, sits the throne until such time as an heir is found, or the citizens agree to a general election to determine the next Dragon House in line.”
Twelve voices murmured over one another and he counted four heads bobbing in agreement. He’d need all of them to vote unanimously. He couldn’t push though. His succession had to be their idea…
Ordrac, the Goblin he’d sponsored to the Council an age ago, lifted a blue hand. “I nominate the First Magistrate.”
He titled his head in a respectful nod. Just as they’d planned.
The four heads he’d counted earlier bobbed again and Balga Mo’lith, one of the Hobgoblins from the North, seconded his counterpart. “Indeed. The First Magistrate should take over until we can call for a general election and a more suitable candidate is named.”
He almost snorted at the poor choice of wording, but let it go. Keeping his face impassive, he waited while two more heads nodded. Six to six. Not good. “Are there any other candidates?”
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