by Crymsyn Hart
“Yes. As I said before, we don’t have magic where I’m from. However, there are other people like me. We call them psychics, or sensitives, who can divine the future, read thoughts, emotions, see the past, and some can do other things.”
“If that isn’t some kind of a magic on its own, I don’t know what is. Don’t you agree, Meruke?” His mother glared at him.
“Yes. It’s a miracle. If I hadn’t seen it performed for myself I never would have believed it. Honestly, it’s not that rare of a gift among the people in the other world. For years I traveled all over the globe there and met other shamans or mystics who could do much better than Savanna.”
The sound of a clattering spoon filled the hall as Wyeth dropped his on the side of the plate. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“If there were others with such greater abilities than Savanna, then why was she the only one who could bring you home?” Orlana inquired. The knife’s edge to her voice told him she was getting angry at him, and his mother’s temper was short once it was roused.
“It’s okay, really.” Savanna forced a smile. She sipped at her soup, and Drake focused back on his meal.
“She just happened to be in the right place at the right time. That’s all, Mother.”
“You son of a—” Wyeth stood and nearly came over the table if it wasn’t for his mother who grabbed his arm.
“We are civilized here, despite what my son says. I expect you to act the same at my table, Wyeth.”
He took in a huge breath and then smiled at her. His voice shook with unspent rage. “I’m sorry, ma’am. Your son and I aren’t seeing eye-to-eye on a few things.”
“I understand.”
“He’s right. You are being a son of a bitch,” Meruke stated.
“Savanna, tell me more about how your power works. Was it something you were born with, or did you acquire it?”
“It was something I was born with. Most psychics believe everyone is born with innate psychic abilities, it just depends on if they hone in on them or utilize them. Many people where I’m from don’t believe in it and don’t understand it. My mother had the gift, but she never liked to admit it. I think my grandmother did, too.”
“I understand this. The power is inherited through the family line. It is the same with us on many levels. Meruke received my magical abilities, the same as his sister. Although, when he was sent to your world, his younger brother was crowned king, but he did not possess my talents. It is said that some of the spellcasters also pass down their magical abilities, but you would have to ask Kestrel about that. Do you think your children will also inherent your gifts, along with your magical ones?”
“Mother, you don’t need to ask Savanna twenty questions. I’m sure she doesn’t want to be drilled.”
“I’m not asking her twenty questions. I am asking her what I wish to know about her, because I’m interested in her powers.”
“Your Highness, I can’t say if my children would be able to read people. I wouldn’t discourage it. When it comes to magic, I can’t say that I am able to perform any. You are not the only one who says I have the ability to weave spells. Ralag has asked me to do some simple enchantments, but I haven’t been able to reproduce them. Although my gifts are a little bit different and stronger since I have come here. I can sense things and feel things a lot stronger than what I had before. Just as I see the spirits of those who linger in this tomb.”
The table went silent and his mother paled even more. “Y-you can see the essence of those who have passed along?”
Savanna nodded. “Only of those who linger here. There are some, but not many. I thought that was something you were able to do as well. Kestrel told me that Andrik went to see you in order to discover he was someone else in a past life. Which would mean you are able to see the dead, too.”
Orlana shook her head. “I can peer into his soul and sense that he was someone else, yes, but I have never been able to contact the dead. It is a very rare thing unless you have a necromancer. They have a tendency to control the dead or make them do things for them. This is not something that you do?”
“If by necromancy you mean someone digs up a corpse and summons their spirit back to them, or kills someone, that isn’t something that I do, either. I wouldn’t want to even think of condemning a spirit to rotting flesh. Seeing the dead and communicating with them is enough for me. I’m not a medium, or at least I never was. I don’t know now about me coming here, because everything has changed so much.”
“It’s wonderful. That’s all the dragonkin need. Someone who can commune with the dead and break open old wounds or ask where their life insurance is,” Drake muttered.
Savanna coughed and clasped her napkin to her lips. “Excuse me.” She got up from the table and exited the room.
“Damn you, Drake. Forgive me, Your Highness, but I swear. If you weren’t here right now I would take your son and make sure...”
“Wyeth, please sit down. I understand completely what you want to say and what you think of my son at the moment. I can assure you that he will go apologize to your mate and make sure that she is okay. Won’t you? Drake, as that is what you’re calling yourself, I can see the separation clearly now. I needed to confirm it was true. Now go after that woman and make sure she is not crying. Get on your knees and beg her forgiveness...”
“You can’t make me do that,” he laughed. Hearing that his mother would force him to apologize to Savanna was absurd.
With a flick of her wrist, his air was cut off, and he was being choked. Her gaze was hard on him and before his eyes it seemed that she was changing into a dragon, but it was only an illusion as she drew in the power around her and made herself look bigger than what she actually was. “I can certainly make you. I have been lenient with you since you have returned, to see if a lick of sense was left in that head of yours, so I could understand what broke you in two. Living among men and having no one to love and no magic has split you apart. It’s driven you insane in your own way. Oh, you may have your wits about you, but soon, the dragon within you will also die. You will be left with nothing more than a human heritage unless you recombine your personalities. And by killing that part of you, the part that I know as my son, you will no longer be ‘kin. You might be a spellcaster, but no dragon is going to want you. And in the process of all of this, you are going to irrevocably hurt these two brave souls who left everything behind for you. If you had any sense left within you, then you’d be falling to your knees and kissing their feet. Especially that poor woman in there.” Her grip got tighter as her eyes narrowed. “Now are you going to go after her, or are you going to be a complete idiot and keep telling yourself that you’re above them because you are a king and they are servants?”
At that moment, her vice grip on his throat eased, but the coldness in her eyes remained. If he didn’t do this, then he knew that she would take other measures, and he didn’t want to find out what they were. Drake rubbed his throat and set his spoon down. He placed his napkin on the table and got up from his chair. “Excuse me, I’ll be right back.”
Drake followed the scent of Savanna’s perfume into the tomb further back than he had been. As he wove among the dragon corpses he was surprised to see how well they were preserved. It just showed how strong the magic was. He took a deep breath and waited for Meruke to say something, but he wasn’t responding. He wasn’t sure if he should believe his mother when he said that his dragon half could die off if he didn’t merge back with it. He didn’t see how that could happen, because they were together in the same body and it wasn’t like he could kill Meruke.
“We know this is tough for you,” a woman’s voice drifted to him.
He stopped when he heard Savanna sniffle. “Thanks. But nothing I can do is going to get through to him,” she answered.
Who is she talking to? he wondered. He stood against one of the great legs of a green dragon and listened.
“You can’t give up if you love him.”
“I kn
ow. That’s what everyone has told me. And I know what I have to do...”
“What do you have to do?” Drake stepped out from behind the dragon he was hiding behind.
Savanna jumped and turned around to face him. He noticed the redness of her eyes and the trail of tears down her cheeks. “Nothing. Forget it.”
“Who were you talking to?” he asked, as he didn’t hear, see, or smell anyone else in the room with them.
She wiped her eyes. “No one.”
“You were talking to someone, because I heard them. There was a woman and a man I think, but no one is here.”
She shook her head and laughed. “If I tell you, then you’d have to admit what I do is legit and not some farce.”
Shit. “Savanna, I’m sorry.”
“Yeah. Say it like you actually mean it, Drake. I’m sure your mother put you up to coming after me, because you certainly wouldn’t do it yourself. I know you well enough for that.”
He stepped forward and went to reach for her, but she stepped away from him and shook her head. “Don’t. It only makes it worse. But you won’t admit that to yourself either, that the three of us are connected.”
Drake examined the woman before him. Meruke was with him.
“Let me out to comfort her. Can’t you see she’s in pain? She needs me.” The dragon raged and used their fire to burn inside of his mind. Drake grabbed his head and screamed from the pain. The dragon half hadn’t ever done this before.
He tried to drive the dragon back, but he wasn’t able to stop the fire. It felt like his brain was being fried or grilled. He dropped to his knees and yelled. He had his head between his hands. “Stop it,” he begged Meruke.
“Never. This has gone on long enough. If you won’t let me have her, then you won’t live another minute. I’ll kill the both of us. I don’t care.”
The fire grew hotter and hotter until it felt as though he was going to burn up from the inside out. His blood was boiling. Drake writhed on the ground without any sense of his body anymore, except that his world had become pain.
* * * *
Savanna wasn’t sure what to make of Drake suddenly collapsing and wailing. His skin turned pink and then red. He clutched his head and convulsed. She figured it had something to do with the two personalities fighting within the one body. The agony pierced her heart. It wasn’t something that she could watch. She grabbed hold of hands as he dragged his nails down his face scratching himself. His flesh was too warm.
“Stop. Drake. You have to stop.”
Nothing happened except that he thrashed in agony.
Savanna gathered him up in her arms and held him. “Meruke, stop.” She found their link and pushed her consciousness along it. The conflict within him consumed her mind, and she felt the fire as though it was within her. She had channeled it once before and knew she could do it again. Savanna concentrated on the fire. It burned within her and shot from her palm against the ground. Once she had pulled the fire out of him it seemed to quiet the dragon and the man. She stroked his head.
“Stop. Please stop,” she pleaded with him.
Through their connection it seemed that some of the conflict reached a standstill. Drake’s body went slack. Savanna wasn’t able to go any further into his mind the way she had done before. Tears of pain streamed down her cheeks. She needed him to be whole. She needed him to live, even if it was in two pieces within his own body.
It took a moment, but he opened his eyes. “You stopped him.” The astonishment was not something she expected to hear in Drake’s voice.
She nodded and wiped her tears. “Of course I did. I wasn’t going to let you die because of some internal argument you were having. I couldn’t do that. Even though you’ve been an ass.”
Drake traced one of her tears as it tumbled down to her chin. The touch was so soft it almost made her feel comforted.
Savanna sensed him within her mind. For a split second she could feel everything he experienced from Drake’s perspective.
The sadness in her eyes stabbed his heart. The link he had been trying to bar for so many days had been ripped open and he couldn’t block it out. With it came the flood of Savanna’s emotions: grief, fear for him, sorrow, and even under all of that mixture of emotion was a deep love that he couldn’t get away from. He didn’t agree about her being his mate, but he couldn’t ignore the fact that she had saved him from Meruke’s fire. She had brought him back to his world. Wyeth had been correct. They had given up everything to be here with him.
Savanna blinked, and then she was back within her own mind.
“I have. And I apologize. Things here have not been the way I assumed they’d be. I thought I might be welcomed home with fanfare and people bowing at my feet. That I could take up the throne once more, but ...”
“It’s different. No one welcomed you back with open arms. You think that because you used to be king everyone is going to recognize you for it. That I’m human and fat and not your type at all, that you can push me away because there must be a more eligible mate for you among your own kind, but you haven’t found anything like that. Have you?”
He laughed and pushed a stray hair from her face. “I think you hit the nail on the head. I guess these feelings have been building for a long time. Maybe that was what made me split.”
Savanna wasn’t sure what he was doing, but she couldn’t help but melt a little bit as he touched her gently, because within the confines of his human persona was the dragon that she loved. Savanna could feel Meruke underneath all of that, and her heart was breaking not being able to be with him. Wyeth was wonderful. When she looked at him, she saw the fathomless love he had for her, and she returned it. It made her heart lurch when he told her about the bag he had found with her tools in it. She had been so thankful to have something from home so she could use her abilities.
“Maybe. Or it could have been a whole bunch of different factors.”
“Look, I can’t promise how this is going to go. I can’t promise that I’m not going to stop being a shit head, but...” He paused.
“Trying would be good, but —”
“What is this but?”
Savanna bit her lip. Maybe now was not the time to suggest this. After having a breakthrough, it might ruin things. “It’s nothing.”
He touched her chin, and she saw the compassion in his eyes. “Tell me what it is. I owe you my life. Anything.”
Savanna touched his cheek lightly and felt Meruke underneath all of his skin, passion lying just underneath the surface. “Would you be okay if I were to be with Meruke? I miss him. I need him.” She hated the yearning in her voice, but it was all true. Part of her was empty without having the dragon. Not having him within her mind, not being able to feel what she was missing and what she had sensed when she touched Kestrel. Every time she had the slightest brush from her, Savanna got the vision of her and Andrik together. It let her see what it meant to have a functioning relationship with a dragon and how deep it was cemented.
He let out a long breath and looked up at the ceiling before meeting her gaze. He took her hand and kissed the back of it. “I owe you my life. It’s the least I can do. Would tonight suffice?”
Her cheeks burned. “I would like that.”
“One condition, though.”
“What?”
“Just you. I don’t want him involved. I want to be sure that I can focus solely on you.”
“Okay.”
He nodded. “Okay. Let’s go back to dinner. I know my mother can be a bore, but she does mean well.”
Drake stood and offered her his hand. Savanna brushed her dress off, not sure that she could trust him. “Your mother is a good woman and she wants you to be happy. We’ve been talking. She’s asked me about you and everything else that I might know.”
“Did you have a hand in this dinner?” Drake asked.
“No. I thought we were going to be eating with Kestrel and Andrik. I didn’t know. I swear.” He put a finger to her lips.
Savanna took a step back and crossed her arms over her chest. “No offense, Drake, but after everything we’ve been through since you’ve shed, and you’ve been a dick, I might’ve saved your life and gotten you here, but you suddenly seem okay with all of this.”
He shrugged, but she couldn’t read him. The wall hadn’t come down between the two of them again, but it seemed she wasn’t coming up on his emotions. Maybe he was good at concealing them. “I’m not completely okay with it, to be honest. The way things are going now I can’t fight with the dragon inside of me. I can’t ignore him and his needs. I don’t want to die. I can’t think of Meruke dying, never flying again, or never being with someone. Compromises. I understand that now. He’s never tried to kill me before. I felt your feelings. There are things we both have to learn and agree on. This would be a start. Come.”
Savanna nodded and understood. They returned to the table and finished the dinner. Orlana left and Drake went with her, but before he left he nodded, letting her know that he remembered his promise.
“What the hell happened? I heard him screaming when you left.” Wyeth hugged her.
Savanna told him what had happened between her and Drake.
“Do you think you can get them back together?”
“I don’t know. That’s not exactly my first thought. I miss him. I—”
“It’s okay, love. You don’t have to explain. I know you wish to be with him, and I’m okay with that. I would like to be with you, but I’ll find somewhere else to stay tonight.” He looked around the tomb. “It’s kinda cozy in here, or I’ll head up to the library. They did have some comfy chairs up there.”
Savanna kissed Wyeth lightly before heading back to their shared quarters. She didn’t know what would occur that night, but she couldn’t help but get her hopes up that this thing between her and Drake, along with Meruke, would mend itself. She squeezed his hand. “I love you.” Then she walked back through the tomb. And yet, even though the bodies of the dragons were there and some of their spirits lingered, it didn’t feel like a crypt. It felt like a home because people still came here to pay respects and included them in their daily lives. Magic infused the whole place and her, washing over her. She tried to do the spells that Ralag had asked her to do, simple ones he said, but maybe they were fueled by dragon power and she wasn’t able to implement them. And yet, everyone said they saw this great power within her. Maybe it just hadn’t been unlocked yet. It seemed the others were hoping that it could be so they could use more power. She didn’t know as she walked out of the crypt and returned to her room.