by Walls, Devri
Turning his head back slowly and deliberately, Dralazar’s eyes were blazing. Reaching up, he wiped a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand, not taking his eyes off her.
The shield should have already been up, but she was so shocked by what she had just done she stood instead, staring in childlike fashion. By the time she realized she had made a mistake, Dralazar’s hand had flown up and invisible fingers wrapped around her neck. She clawed at the force but it was no use. Dralazar tightened his fingers closing off her airway. She struggled under his grasp, choking.
“You are a very stupid girl, Kiora. I could kill you with a thought!” he snarled, before dropping her like a sack of garbage.
Rolling over on the ground she gasped, but hadn’t got more than two breaths before she felt herself flying through the air and slamming into the gate. The much needed oxygen was knocked out of her, and she slid down, gulping for air like a fish on land, all the while the magical signature of Dralazar and Eleana ran through her. It was unmistakable, and irrefutable. There was only one way Eleana’s signature would be here.
Dralazar strode up to Kiora, grabbing her roughly by the arm. “Make one move, Kiora, and I will knock you out and bind you with magic so tight you won’t be able to move. I had hoped we could have a cordial conversation,” he jerked her roughly to her feet. “It appears that will not be possible.” Grabbing her face, Dralazar twisted it to him.
She jerked her head back but he held fast, “Why would I side with you when you treat me like this?” she spoke through clenched teeth to prevent her checks from being shoved between them.
“Because,” Dralazar said, dropping her distastefully, “you have been trained to think of the people over yourself and if you don’t work with me, everybody dies. Your sister, everyone. Think about it, Kiora, I can make it all go away. No death, no war. Can Eleana promise you that? She has lied to you and has no power to put a stop to anything. Work with me, and it all goes away. And,” he added tantalizingly, “you won’t have to be the Solus any longer. All that responsibility washes away. Just like everything else.” Dralazar took a few steps backward. “Think about it, and stay put. Soolan is dying for a shot at you.” He smiled and vanished, leaving her standing in front of the monstrous iron lie.
As soon as Dralazar left, Kiora grabbed for her pendant, the one that the Guardians had left her. It was gone. Sinking into a pile of torn and dirty ruffles, tears spilled down Kiora’s cheeks. Her tears, coupled with the magic that hid it, made the gate’s beauty swim in and out of focus.
Lies. Everything had always been a lie. She laughed a sick laugh through her tears that was anything but funny. She really had thought that she understood lies. She really thought that she could see them, or feel them, like threads. It made sense at the time— lies were evil and thereby easily recognizable. But now, there were lies upon lies, seas and levels of them. And all coming from places she hadn’t seen. From people who felt good, with threads that soothed rather than froze. She couldn’t help but think that there were still more, swirling under the surface that she would soon discover. And then she was sinking, drowning under the lies and the confusion and Eleana’s betrayal.
It had been easier to block the thoughts when Dralazar stood before her. But now that she was alone with nothing but the lie for company... her trust for Eleana shattered.
Why would she hold back something like this, why? But it made sense now. All the distracted empty stares she had caught Eleana in whenever Dralazar was brought up, the guilt Kiora had seen and yet not understood. She thought that it was because Dralazar was her brother. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t that at all. It had been this… this horrible secret. Dropping her head into her hands, Kiora realized it wasn’t just Eleana. She had mentioned her dreams to Arturo, he had acted strangely at the time. Surely he knew, and had also said nothing. How many others? The Guardians? Aleric? How many had let her carry on, knowing that there was so much she had not been told.
Wiping her tears away, she sat back on her heels. She needed the truth about her sister. She called the vision to her and the scene unfolded out before her in more clarity and with more ease than ever before.
She was back in her house now, the table and chairs looked so solid she reached out to touch them, but her hand passed easily through.
Her sister and Dralazar entered from the front door, Layla looking frantic, wringing her hands in front of her. “Please sir, sit down,” Layla said.
“Much obliged,” he said with a charm and a respectful nod that Kiora knew he turned on and off at will.
“You can’t let the King do this!” Layla said suddenly, “He’s made a mistake.”
“My dear girl, I am afraid the King will need more than just my word for it. After all, I am only an advisor.”
Layla’s manner changed for the briefest of moments, “I don’t think I have ever seen you before,” she questioned.
“No, you wouldn’t have. I came from the other side of the mountains.”
Layla’s eyes suddenly were glossy and her face blank as she tried to process the phrase, ‘other side of the mountains’. Then she continued on as if she had never asked him where he had come from in the first place. “The King is wrong!” she exclaimed. “Kiora is not the Solus!”
“That is why he sent me to talk you,” he said smoothly. “He hasn’t actually met her yet so he sent me to find me out what I could before she returns to the village.”
“She is…is…” she struggled for the word, her lips pressed tightly together.
“Evil?” Dralazar suggested.
Layla’s eyes widened, “Yes! She is. She can’t be the Solus. She killed our parents!” Layla shrieked.
Dralazar’s hands flew to his mouth in mock surprise. “No!”
“She did! And that’s not all,” Layla moved to the table and sat forward, spewing forth information on all of the things that Kiora had received visions of. Only in Layla’s retelling, Kiora caused it all. Burning down houses, failure of crops, accidents to neighbors and more. When Layla had finished, Dralazar looked grave.
“I will speak with the King,” he looked up at Layla in earnest. “But I don’t think I can change his mind. He is convinced that she is the Solus. In fact, he is already sending out spies in search of the great evil that is prophesied about.”
“But it’s her!” Layla shouted as if coming to a great revelation. “She is the great evil he is looking for.”
Dralazar frowned, rubbing his chin and looking very thoughtful indeed. “I suppose it’s possible.”
“It’s the only explanation; look at what she has done.” Layla gestured widely as if proof of Kiora’s deeds were sitting just outside the door.
“I need your help Layla, you must tell the people, all of them. Convince them that she is evil, and not to be trusted. Otherwise,” Dralazar said, his head hanging sadly, “evil will win and the peace we have will be lost forever.”
Layla sat back in her chair and shook her head in agreement. “I will, we have to stop her.”
The vision faded and Kiora felt a new feeling engulf her. Anger. She wasn’t mad, or frustrated, she was fuming angry. It slid through her body like a dark snake, engulfing the good and poisoning the peace. She wanted to leave it all behind. Leave Dralazar, Eleana, everyone. Striding over to the gate she opened up her magic as she never had before. White magic poured up and around the gates, flowing over the ironwork, flitting around the edges. Throwing her head back she let out a scream of rage that echoed through the canyons.
The gate was glowing white at this point, absorbing all the magic she could throw at it. The more she let loose, the more she understood what Dralazar had taunted her with, the feeling of magic, and power. It flowed through every inch of her with powerful intoxication.
“Kiora!” A deep, vibrating dragon voice came from behind.
Kiora spun around, her chest heaving, hair flying and the metal behind her glowing white hot. “Morcant? How?” she looked
around. But dragons could not bubble.
“I had help,” Morcant rumbled looking at her with great curiosity. “Something has happened, your thread is altered.” He accused, moving into a defensive position.
“What, what do you mean?”
His eyes narrowed, “Do not pretend you do not feel what is in your heart, it is darkening your thread, little one.”
The mention of the name ‘little one’ brought her slamming back to reality. “This gate, can you see it?” she demanded.
“I can. You shouldn’t be able to.”
“I shouldn’t… be able to?” she sputtered. “You all knew, all of you!” she accused.
“Of course. All of us with magic were trapped in this valley when it was erected. We are acutely aware of it.”
“But how can you?” she looked back and forth between Morcant and the gate. “Did you know Eleana helped him erect it? DID YOU?” she screamed.
Morcant’s eyes narrowed again, dangerously this time. “Do not yell at me, child. Solus or not, you are teetering on a dangerous precipice, both for your safety and the rest of ours.”
Taking a strained breath in through her nose, “Did you?” Kiora asked again.
“I suspected.”
“Then how can you side with Eleana!?”
“Kiora!” Morcant’s voice rumbled through the canyon, demanding her attention. “You are listening with your ears and that is not good enough!”
“How did you find me?” she asked.
“You are still listening with your ears, as a matter of fact, you are not listening at all,” Morcant said, tendrils of fire escaping from his nose, his eyes scanning the sky. “We do not have much time. Feel my thread Kiora, feel it! Not with your ears, your heart. What do you feel?” It was not a request.
Kiora tried to feel it, but could not swim past the anger.
“Close your eyes!” Morcant demanded again. “Concentrate.”
Kiora closed her eyes taking deep breaths in and searched again for Morcant’s thread. It eased into her, pushing aside the pain, the betrayal, the anger. As it pierced her heart she felt his goodness, she felt peace and love. The anger seemed to recoil from it, spinning away as if repulsed by his goodness.
Morcant and Kiora let out a breath of relief in unison.
“There you are,” Morcant said in a grumbling whisper. Moving his head closer, he stood nose to nose with her. “Never, ever listen to the words of Dralazar. Sometimes his words may be truth, but mostly they are truth mixed with lies.”
“Do not listen with your ears, Kiora, never listen with your ears, only with your heart. You asked me how, all those years ago, I stayed true. It’s because I listened only with my heart. The threads of Eleana and the Guardians only inspire peace and kindness. There is no anger and agitation, no pain and misery. Are they perfect? No. I cannot tell you why Eleana did what she did, only she can do that. But I tell you this, whatever her reason, she did not do it out of anger and a thirst for power like Dralazar. After what you have seen, I am sure you will ask Eleana what those reasons are. But wait until the time is right, focus on the feelings and let the rest go unanswered, just for now.”
Kiora nodded with a soft smile, “You are a very wise dragon,” she whispered.
“I am a very old and experienced dragon who needs to get you out of here.”
The thread appeared much too quickly, “Morcant!” Kiora yelled. Soolan dropped out of the clouds, his wings pulled tightly to his sides in a deathly fast dive. No doubt he had hidden his thread by sheer height, dropping in as fast as he could. He was closing the distance fast.
Morcant reached out and grabbed the front of her dress nimbly with his two front teeth before taking off with her. Behind him, Soolan opened his jaws and sent fire spewing in their direction. Morcant took the hit on the right side. He bellowed in pain, all the while keeping his teeth firmly clenched. Kiora’s hands flew to her ears. She could feel the vibrations of his roar jangling through her. Flying straight up, he dropped her on a ledge far too high up the mountain for her to go anywhere. Kicking back off with his hind legs he flipped his massive body around to face Soolan.
“You may have gotten the best of me last time, Soolan, but will you not be so lucky again,” he roared.
“You are a traitor to you own kind! I will kill you first,” Soolan roared, “and then I will kill the girl.”
The two dragons dipped and dived in front of her ledge, roaring. Soolan shot at Morcant, who deftly flipped himself upside down, his great claws slicing at the underbelly of Soolan. Soolan bellowed, blood dripping from the gashes.
“You should have kept this fight on the ground Soolan,” Morcant bellowed. “You forget my flying skills exceed yours.”
Soolan growled and banked for another attack.
Dralazar materialized next to her on the cliff. Weary, Kiora just turned to look at him.
“What?” he said, clearly amused. “No feeble attempt at bubbling or attack magic?”
“No.”
“It’s a beautiful sight isn’t it?” Dralazar asked, pointing to the two battling dragons spinning in front of them. “Two powerful creatures fighting over you.”
A vision freely exploded into view, easier than ever. Kiora smiled at what she saw.
Dralazar misread her expression. “Ahhh, you are finally beginning to see what I have been trying to show you.”
“If I work with you,” she said, “the village will be spared?”
“Of course,” he oozed looking pleased.
He was not listening with anything but his ears. Had he, he would have realized her thread was pulsing with anything but ice.
“And if I say no?” Kiora asked. Soolan’s wing scraped the mountain on his last pass sending, a large boulder tumbling down just to the left of her.
Dralazar’s smile faltered for a second. “We don’t need to worry about that, Kiora, do we?”
“I suspect you would have to kill me.”
“Of course.”
“Well then, my answer is no.” Kiora caught a glimpse of the shock on Dralazar’s face before stepping off the cliff. She was sure he was yelling, but the wind rushing by her ears muffled it. Looking around frantically, she spread her arms and legs as wide as they would go. When nothing happened she thought, I really am going to die.
Don’t be ridiculous, Arturo’s voice came. Look to your right.
Kiora looked over, nothing. And then he appeared, the white pegasus dove, coming up underneath her. She slammed onto his back.
Shield NOW! Arturo yelled.
Kiora threw up a shield just as a bolt of magic connected with it. She gasped in pain, the magic was red hot and sizzled against her shield. This was not a warning shot. Kiora resisted giving the shield more magic, frightened of the surge of power she had felt when she opened up on the gate.
Do not hold back! He will kill us both. Arturo banked to the side.
The magic was burrowing through her shield, burning her. She had no choice. She opened up and let the magic flow through her. The shield grew and thickened. She felt it again, the power, the euphoria. She twisted her head around to see Dralazar standing on the edge of the cliff. He had both arms extended, red bolts flying from his hands.
Kiora’s body took over, acting on impulse. She opened up a small hole in the shield and stretched her own hand out. White lighting flew from her fingertips, red meeting white in the void between her and Dralazar. Kiora forced more power forward to meet Dralazar’s attack. Dralazar’s eyes widened at her response.
“You will pay for this!” he screamed over the wind. “When you look at your burning village and count your dead, know that it is your fault. Soolan! Deal with them!” Dralazar vanished a second before Kiora’s white fire slammed into the side of the mountain.
Kiora whirled, looking for Soolan, but Morcant beat her to it. As Soolan turned to obey his masters orders, Morcant flew straight at him crushing him into the side of the mountain. Soolan’s head smashed into the rock, his ey
es rolling back into his head before tumbling end over end to the ground below.
“Bubble, Kiora!” Morcant demanded.
She did so before collapsing onto Arturo’s back, magic rolling through her. She tried to breath, to relax, but there was so much of it pulsing through her, causing her head to spin. Focus Kiora, you need to pull it back. Arturo’s voice sounded weak.
Kiora pulled at the magic, trying to close it down, to control it. Arturo was drenched in sweat, trembling beneath her and losing altitude fast.
Kiora! His tone was severe. I need you to control this magic, now. And we need a bubble or we will lead Dralazar straight to the others.
She looked around, realizing that in an attempt to shut down the magic, she had also dropped the bubble.
Kiora sat up and pulled with all her might, shutting down the current of magic that was electrifying her body. She could feel it slowing to a trickle before Arturo began gaining altitude.
Bubble, Arturo reminded.
Morcant flew up and over them as Kiora bubbled and he headed back out in the direction of the Sea of Garian.
“Where is he going?” she asked.
Arturo was silent for moment before he replied, He is making sure no one else is on their way here, leading them off the path if necessary.
“How did you both get in there?” she asked. “Without bubbles?”
The guardians bubbled us, it was the only way to get close enough to you. A lone Guardian is vulnerable, he explained in answer to the question she hadn’t been able to ask yet. They returned to the hollow once their job was completed.
Looking forward as they headed back to the castle, her mind replayed everything that had happened from the time she met Aleric until now, trying to piece together a puzzle that was surely missing a few pieces. Anger flared again and she struggled to push it away again. Why had Eleana not told her about the gate? How could Eleana have worked with Dralazar in the first place to erect such a thing? Despite Morcant’s speech, she still felt betrayed. Lies. She thought gritting her teeth. So many lies. Making everything worse was the sudden realization that Dralazar would surely be headed toward the village, the village that she had just condemned.