“We have to fight this,” he said. His voice carried farther than it had in quite some time, and he realized too late that he would have raised attention.
“What. Is. It?” Nina’s words were stilted, and a panicked expression had widened her brow.
The others with them couldn’t move. They were frozen.
Fes looked at Nick. He remained in place, but Fes couldn’t tell whether he was frozen in place or whether he was trying to fight off the effect of the Calling.
“Nick?”
Nick looked over at him, his eyes searching. “Fes? I can feel it. It’s like before.”
“Do the same thing as you did before. Ignore the Calling. Ignore the sense that you feel.”
Fes unsheathed his sword and started forward.
“Where are you going?” Nina asked, gritting her teeth and somehow managing to spit out the question.
“None of us will be safe if we don’t end this Calling,” he said.
“What happens if they take you?” she asked.
“They won’t take me.”
Fes reached the edge of the forest. From here, the sun shone overhead, no longer blocked by the treetops. A cool breeze gusted, pushing back the heat from within the forest—the dragon’s breath. He scanned the horizon, wondering how many he would see. How many of the Damhur would there be?
At first, he saw nothing. And then he noticed them.
Three, sitting on a small rise in the distance, seated on horses and staring at the forest. How many of them were soldiers and how many of them could perform a Calling?
Fes couldn’t tell, not from here.
He would have to work quickly and somehow find a way to cut them down, stop them from their Calling.
Fes held the sword in hand, gripping the hilt with both hands as he started away from the trees. As before, Nick joined him, carrying the other sword.
“Are you fighting it?” he asked.
“I am. But they’re trying to get me to come. Can you feel it?”
It surprised Fes. He couldn’t feel it, not like what Nick was describing. Could it be that they weren’t using the Calling on him? Or, could it be that he had developed enough that he could ignore it altogether?
That last seemed unlikely, especially as he did know a few things about how to ignore it completely, and he didn’t feel it had any effect of the Calling. He thought that he should feel something, but there wasn’t any sense.
As they neared the two people whose dark gazes stared at them, power built. Fes realized both of them were performing the Calling.
“Just two of you animals?” This came from the man. He was in his thirties, with dark hair and a pointed nose. A sharp beard lined his chin. “Where are the rest?”
“In the forest,” Nick said.
Fes lunged. As he did, his body seemed to freeze in midair, caught by the power of whatever it was they did to him.
“Interesting,” the woman said. She looked to be about the same age as the man, and she studied Fes with an edge of interest, but little more than that. She regarded him as someone would a horse, and perhaps that was all he was to her.
Had they survived the forest only to get captured here?
“How is it that you escaped?”
“He knows how to fight,” Nick said.
It might’ve been better had Fes come alone. He remained rigid, his entire body motionless, and as much as he wanted to move, he couldn’t.
“This one knows how to fight?” The woman climbed up the horse, and she stopped in front of Fes, seemingly unconcerned about the sword that he held out from him. Maybe she wasn’t concerned at all. With their ability to keep him from moving, there wasn’t much that he could do to fight them. Even if he could, he didn’t know if he could be fast enough against three of them, all likely able to hold him in place.
“You will help us capture the others—”
He cut off, an arrow sinking into his chest. Fes was suddenly freed, and he lunged, reaching the woman, but a sword blocked him.
Nick’s sword.
“Fight it,” Fes said. The other veered off and headed toward the forest.
How long would they have before he reached them? How many of them could he Call at one time? Would they all be able to fight? Joey’s arrow had struck true, bringing down the man, but they might not have time for him to do the same thing again.
Fes backed up, careful to block Nick’s attack, sweeping his sword in a short arc, following the movements of the other man, not wanting to attack too aggressively.
Nick wasn’t completely helpless with the sword. He had some skill, which made it more difficult. Fes had to focus even more on Nick, diverting his attention from the woman.
Thankfully, he didn’t feel the effect of her Calling on him, not as he had. That meant that the man had been the one responsible for his Calling, or possibly she couldn’t maintain such focus all at one time. Maybe she had to keep her focus on Nick to control him as much as she did.
“I imagine that you would be powerful,” she said from the side, and Fes ignored her. “Someone like you would be useful to us, the kind of person we could train and turn into a capable soldier. Someone like you would restore greatness to our people. We could use you and reclaim these lands.”
Fes almost faltered. “Reclaim?”
He knew that he shouldn’t question, but he didn’t understand what was happening, other than the fact that these people had invaded the empire and were trying to reach the Deshazl. Why? What did they hope to accomplish?
If it involved reclaiming some land that they believed was theirs, then it was possible that they would be more difficult to fight off than he had thought.
And how many other Deshazl did they have?
If there were more, men and women who had the same dragon gift as he and the others he’d found in the wagons, they would be a formidable opponent. With his ability to cut through spells, he could imagine how they would have no difficulty bringing down fire mages.
The one strength of the empire would be neutralized.
All he had wanted was to remain neutral. These others were bringing him into a fight that he wanted nothing to do with.
Nick swung his sword, but he dropped his shoulder too much, and Fes spun, jamming him in the back with his elbow, sending Nick staggering.
Fes twisted around and started toward the woman.
Somehow, she managed to stop him, sending a controlling blast in his direction. He froze in place.
“Fes?”
He wanted to turn and look at Nick, but he couldn’t. Everything he had was focused on trying to overcome this Calling.
“You can only control one of us,” Fes said.
The woman clasped her hands in front of her, staring at Fes. “Perhaps. But what happens if I control the most powerful of you?”
Something surged through Fes, and regardless of what he wanted to do, he was forced to fight Nick. Everything in his being, everything that was within him, wanted to knock him back. He attacked, swinging the sword around to crush the man. He would destroy him, and he would bring power to this woman. He would bring glory to her. And she would be pleased with him.
That was the reward. He wanted to please her.
A faint and distant part of his mind rebelled, but Fes ignored it. He hacked at Nick, and the other man stumbled back.
Something about it seemed wrong, though Fes couldn’t quite place what it was. Why did it feel wrong to fight this man? All he wanted was to knock him back, to bring glory to his mistress, and he could do that by defeating him.
That same nagging irritation built within him, and this time Fes didn’t ignore it. He let it build and recognized why he could feel so uncomfortable.
Nick was his friend.
He hadn’t known him long, but that didn’t matter. They shared Deshazl blood, and they were more alike than they were similar to this woman. She was nothing but someone who would use him.
Fes reached for one of his daggers and sl
ipped it from his sheath. There came the sense of satisfaction from the woman, and he had a surge of desire to please her, but Fes held on to that part of himself, the part that recognized this wasn’t right and turned his attention to the woman.
She glared at him. “End this.”
A surge of pleasure went through him.
All he wanted was to accommodate her. Everything within him wanted to do exactly as she asked, knowing that it would please her.
But it wouldn’t please him.
He threw the dagger. It tumbled end over end before sliding into her chest.
When it did, the power holding him disappeared.
He shook himself briefly and went to reclaim his dagger, wiping it on the woman’s jacket. “The others,” Fes said.
He looked back to the edge of the forest, and the man who was there had fallen from his horse. Sarah and Celine stood around him, looking down at his motionless body.
Fes smiled to himself. Maybe they would be strong enough.
“Fes?”
He turned his attention to Nick. “Listen. Nick. I wasn’t in control. You have to—”
“I know that you are. The same thing happened to me, so I know that you weren’t able to stop what she was making you do. But that’s not it.”
“What is it?”
“Look.” Nick pointed to the south, and Fes followed the direction. There on the plain rode dozens of soldiers. As he watched, he had the same sense building within him.
A Calling.
Fes’s heart sank. Would it never end?
Chapter Eighteen
They ran. Everybody moved quickly, racing forward as they headed across the land, striving for a place of safety. They needed someplace to hide, preferably someplace that would allow them to ignore the Calling, but where?
“Do you know any place around here?” he asked Nick.
“This is well beyond my homeland,” Nick said.
Fes looked at the others. Everybody was running faster and moving more quickly than he would’ve expected. Maybe there was something about their Deshazl connection that allowed them to run fast. If that were the case, he was thankful for it. Even Dobrah managed to keep a quick step, though she clasped her hands underneath her belly, almost as if holding the baby inside.
“We could have returned to the forest,” Nina said.
Fes glanced over. Her face was strange from the effort of their run, and he wondered how much longer she would be able to maintain this pace. He had the same question about everybody else and worried the least about Nina, knowing that she would continue to run as quickly as she needed and probably would last much longer than the others.
“Would you really want to stay in the forest?” It was hard to get the question out as he raced. Between the effort he exerted and the pounding of his heart, Fes struggled.
Nina shook her head. “I don’t know how much longer I could have stayed there.”
“I don’t think we were in any danger,” Fes said.
“Maybe not, but even not in any danger, it seemed as if we weren’t welcome. Does that make any sense?”
Fes nodded. “It makes complete sense. I felt the same way.”
Nick watched them. “It’s the dragons.”
“I don’t think there are any dragons in the forest,” Fes said.
“But if there were, don’t you think that they would have enough power to make us feel uncomfortable and exile us from the forest?”
“Why would they let us live?” Joey asked. Fes had congratulated him on his shot, and the boy had shrugged it off as if it weren’t any sort of issue. He sprinted, light on his feet, having no apparent difficulty with keeping this rigorous pace. Then again, he was young, among the youngest of them, so Fes wasn’t entirely surprised that Joey would be able to keep up.
“Because we share a connection,” Nina said. She looked at Fes as she did, practically daring him to challenge her.
“What does that mean?” Joey asked.
“It means that the reason that the Calling works on all of us is because we are descended from a race of people called Deshazl. The Deshazl shared a connection with the dragons. There’s a power within our blood, and these others use that power to Call us. To control us.”
Joey laughed. “We’re dragons?”
“We aren’t dragons,” Fes said, “but we share a connection to them.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because I feel that connection,” Fes said. “If you focus, you can feel it too. That connection is within each of us, the burning sense that fills us. That connection allows us to do great things.”
“Like what?” Joey asked.
“Like stop a fire mage’s spell,” Fes said.
Joey’s eyes widened, and Nick stared at him. He still needed to find out what it was that Nick had experienced, and why he had such issues with the fire mages. What had happened to him? Why did he fear them?
“We can ignore the fire mage spells? That would be a great power. We could take over the empire!” Joey said, running in front of Fes.
“I don’t think we would be able to overthrow the empire. I don’t know that we want to,” he said.
“Well, I’m not saying that I want to throw the empire, but if we have this power, why can’t we use it?”
“I think that you can,” he said.
“Can we learn?”
“That’s where I want to take you,” Fes said. “There’s a woman who understands her abilities, and I think she could help you.”
Joey sucked in a breath and spun around to rejoin Fes running forward. “You could help me?”
“You. Everyone. She understands what it means to be Deshazl. She has some incredible power, nothing like anything I’ve ever seen before. She is the first person I saw who was able to ignore the Calling,” Fes said.
“Where is she?” Nina asked.
“She’s in a small village north of here.”
“How far north?” Nina asked. “I don’t know how much longer I will be able to run.”
So far, they were managing to keep distance between them and the Damhur, but Fes didn’t how much longer that would be the case. How long before they were caught?
“I don’t know. I don’t know the landscape well enough to be able to answer that for you. It’s possible that we’re close.” If they were, that would be some kind of miracle. But then, how could they be close? He had traveled north through the forest, and they hadn’t been so far north that they should be able to escape, but what if they did find someplace?
As they ran, Fes continued to guide them, feeling as if he were compelled to follow a particular path. Maybe it was the easier way, or maybe there was some part of him that knew where he needed to go. Either way, he kept them moving quickly, racing across the land.
It was near dusk when he saw an outline of buildings.
“I don’t know how much longer we can go,” Nina said.
“I don’t think we have to go much longer at all,” Fes said. “Look.”
As they ran, the buildings became clearer, and they were familiar.
It was the village.
It didn’t seem to have anyone here, but maybe that didn’t matter. If they could find a place to hide, even if it involved going underground, then they could be safe. They reached the village and Fes turned, looking back to see the line of riders cresting the hill.
“They’re going to catch us, aren’t they?” Dobrah asked.
Fes guided them to one of the buildings, and they all began to file inside. He led them to the back room, searching for the door, throwing it open and pointing for them to head down the stairs.
“What is this place?” Nick asked as everyone began to make their way down the stairs.
“A dragon bunker. It’s a place used in the old wars. I had thought that they were used to hide from the dragon attacks, but I wonder if there wasn’t a different purpose to them,” Fes said.
Nick eyed him for a long moment but headed down the s
tairs, following the others. When everyone was through, Fes closed the door and found a lock, slapping it into place. He headed down the stairs, and when they reached the bottom, the storeroom that he knew to be there, he looked for signs of anyone else.
It was empty. Arudis wasn’t here. This was the same place, but… He was too late.
Fes hadn’t expected them to be here, not really. There would’ve been no reason for them to have remained here, not with the others having attacked with a Calling. No. It made more sense for them to have disappeared, and made more sense for them to have gone on to some other place for safety.
“We’re going to be trapped here,” Nina said.
“We can hide. I’ve done it once before,” Fes said.
“You’ve hidden here?”
He nodded.
“What happens when that Calling draws us?”
“Then we fight it.”
“I… I don’t know that I can fight it. When we were in the trees, it was too strong. It wasn’t until you attacked them that I was freed from it.”
Fes looked around the room. Everyone had made it this far, and he marveled at the fact that they were all still safe. He was pleased by that and pleased by the fact that no one had been lost in the forest, but this deep into the empire, they should be safe. They shouldn’t have to fear strange others and their ability to attack. They shouldn’t have to worry about what might happen, and they shouldn’t have to fear for their safety in the village and an ancient bunker.
Fes motioned for everybody to keep moving back. There was another storeroom farther along the hallway, and maybe it would be deep enough that they would be strengthened by it. He wanted to keep them as far away from the Calling as possible, maybe put enough doors in between that they could be safe.
Another possibility came to him.
Could they draw the Damhur down here and then escape?
If they did, maybe he could trap the Damhur down here, and they could steal their horses and ride to safety.
Dragon Rise Page 19