by Joseph Lallo
Griel's tall frame burst into her field of vision. He struggled with his wife, trying to wrench her away from the draykon's form. She resisted, laughing.
'Griel, we've done it! It's really alive!' Her eye fell on Eva. She was elated, beyond even her own control, but she still thought she could prevail against this beast.
'Now, Evastany! Before it is fully awake!' Eva felt her try to focus her summoner's will on the draykon, felt her try and try again as each time her will slipped off its polished mind like water over glass. She worked on, undaunted, until Griel's attempts to detach her from the beast finally broke in upon her concentration.
'Ana, this is enough. Stop now! You cannot handle this creature.' Griel picked her up and hauled her away from the draykon. She looked at him in puzzlement.
'Even you, Griel? You have been with me since the beginning. Why this, now?'
'We've overreached ourselves, we were crazy to think-' A crashing sound interrupted Griel as the stone chamber shook violently. The draykon was stirring into wakefulness, flexing its wings. Ana fought her way out of her husband's arms, biting and scratching at him. He fell back, helpless, wearing an expression of raw despair as he watched his wife run towards the draykon.
As Ana passed Eva, her hand shot out and fastened on Eva's arm in a grip of iron. Too startled to react, Eva found herself dragged bodily along as Ana raced to position herself directly underneath the draykon's head. Belatedly, Eva fought to free herself, but Ana was too viciously determined; her strong fingers dug painfully into Eva's flesh, her fingernails ripping through cloth to pierce skin. She grabbed Eva's free arm with her other hand, pinning her in place as she turned to face the draykon.
Eva sensed waves of Ana's will bear down on the beast, strong and masterful. Ana's nails bit harder into Eva's skin as she ruthlessly tightened her grip.
'You will help us,' she hissed, her face close to Eva's ear. The draykon, still weak and disoriented, had barely moved. If there was any chance that Ana's crazy plan might succeed, it would have to be now. It was like trying to dampen an inferno by stamping on it, but Eva could think of nothing better.
She joined her efforts to Ana's, reinforcing the deranged summoner’s will with her own. Ana laughed delightedly, but Eva could feel the futility of it. Even combined, their willpower barely touched the powerful force of the draykon's mind. They danced in the face of destruction like flies, and were brushed aside with fitting indifference.
Ana finally seemed to realise her predicament. She began to gasp, sobbing with the effort to prevail. She was muttering something over and over under her breath: 'No, no, no, no... you're mine, you're mine...'
Footsteps beat behind Eva, then strong hands closed over hers, pulling them away from Ana's grip. Eva's concentration shattered and her will fractured into pieces. Ana struggled on alone as Tren half-carried Eva as far away from the draykon as possible. They fell back against the wall, both gasping for air. The draykon slowly raised its head, blinking its golden eyes, and the ceiling vanished, melting away as if it had never been. Through the new gap Eva could see a hazy pattern of glissenwol trees that wavered like water.
The beast's scaled hide shone green and blue in the white moonlight now streaming into the room. Its head moved sluggishly, its long snout opening to allow its flickering tongue to test the air. Claws as long as Eva's forearm flexed against the stone floor, grating horribly. It stretched out its long neck, rose on its haunches and let out a shattering roar.
Tren was dragging Eva towards the door, but she could barely move, so mesmerised was she by the draykon's presence. And its mind. It had intelligence, far more than any beast she'd encountered. Its thoughts were muddled, but only with long inaction; its mental processes were growing clearer by the second. She did not even need to reach out to it to feel its mind: it imposed its will upon everything around it with casual arrogance.
'It's not an animal,' she whispered, awed.
'What? Eva, please. We have to get away from here.' Tren was pulling at her, and she knew he was right but she couldn't obey him. Not even when the fabric of the room began to ripple and shiver, similar to the Lowers' behaviour when the light began to change. But the white moon overhead remained constant. Eva felt the closeness of the other worlds, pulsing behind the flimsy fabric of the Lowers as if they sought to break through.
The draykon was nearly fully alert now, its movements growing quicker and sharper. Its attention turned to the small figure of Ana standing at its feet. It opened its mouth slightly, revealing the glitter of teeth as its body tensed, ready to strike. Eva screamed a warning, but it was futile. She couldn't possibly reach Ana in time.
She had forgotten about Griel. He emerged from the shadows, launching himself at the spot where Ana stood. Ana fell, screaming with rage, just as the draykon struck. Its powerful teeth ripped through Griel's body with appalling ease. The sorcerer didn't make a sound, just crumpled to the floor and lay still. Ana bent over him, weeping and screaming, oblivious to the renewed attention of the beast crouching over her.
It braced itself to strike at Ana, but then it stopped, distracted. The disruption in the weave of the world intensified so fast that Eva felt suddenly nauseous, sensing the fabric of the worlds fraying as though a large hole were being torn through. A figure appeared, a faint outline that grew rapidly more solid. It was the slight, winged female Eva had glimpsed walking in the Uppers. As her form solidified, Eva realised, to her complete astonishment, that she recognised the woman's black hair, grey wings and clear grey eyes.
Llandry Sanfaer.
Llandry collapsed onto the stone floor, curled up in obvious pain. She was panting, hyperventilating, her small body shaking uncontrollably. Eva rushed forward, kneeling at her side, trying with word and gesture to soothe her.
Llandry finally sat up, still shaking. She seemed so fragile, a mere wisp of a woman wracked with pain. Eva hovered over her, unsure how to help her. She realised belatedly that the stone chamber was disappearing around them, replaced with a spreading forest of glissenwol caps. The change radiated outwards from the spot where Llandry sat trembling, her eyes taking in the transformation with complete incomprehension. She was changing the Lowers in the same way Ana had done; the way Eva had done when she'd held an istore piece in her hands. But the imposition of her will over her surroundings seemed involuntary. How could she not even know what she was doing?
Then her trembling intensified once more, shaking so hard that Eva was filled with serious alarm. She gripped Llandry's delicate frame, trying to support her, talking to her soothingly. Tren knelt now on her other side, helping to steady her. His eyes met Eva's, betraying a helplessness that matched her own. Despite their efforts, Llandry collapsed back onto the stone, curling herself around her belly. Then she screamed, shockingly loud, a raw cry of absolute agony.
Chapter Twenty Seven
Llandry felt as though her body was turning itself inside out. The sensation mirrored the way she had felt when she had crossed into the Upper Realm, but now it was infinitely worse. It was a familiar pain; she had felt it before, with increasing frequency since she had discovered the draykon bone, but this bout was extreme; she truly felt that she might break into pieces. She lay curled around her stomach that pulsed with pain, her face wet with tears of shock. She forced her eyes open and found herself in near darkness, surrounded by figures whose faces were obscured by shadow. She closed her eyes again, squeezing them tightly shut like a child hoping it would go away if only she couldn't see it.
She tried to think back. She had left her grandfather's house a few hours ago. Finding herself still too sore to fly, she had walked instead, making her way somewhat aimlessly through Rheas's pretty alpine valley. To her confusion, the mountains had melted away before she had reached them. Glissenwol caps had crowded in upon her in their place, tall and draped with vines, just like the trees at home. This changefulness made her nervous, and she had redoubled her efforts to find a gate to take her home.
Instead of finding a gate, she had found herself back at the site of the skeleton, the one her grandfather said was a draykon. Its bones drew her in some way that she was powerless to resist. She had replaced the piece she had taken earlier, fitting it back into the map of bones out of some compulsion she didn't understand. Then, as she crouched in the earth with her hands pressed against the bones, she'd felt energy suddenly roar into life beneath her fingers, and a mind flared abruptly into consciousness.
And that was when everything had begun to go horribly wrong.
It had begun with a sensation of tugging, as though hands grabbed at every part of her body and tried to drag her away. It had become extremely difficult to walk. Llandry fiercely resisted the tug, but then the pain hit her. Crumpling to the ground, she had had time to glimpse the world dissolving around her before her vision had darkened and she had closed her eyes.
Now, on top of everything else, she was hallucinating. A voice spoke to her, a deep female one with a refined Glour accent. Peeping through her lashes, Llandry thought she saw Lady Glostrum's face. That was not possible. She laughed weakly, trying to sit up. Dizziness engulfed her and she rapidly abandoned the endeavour. A gentle hand pressed her back to the ground.
'Don't move, Llandry. I think that would be best.'
The apparition knew her name, then. Llandry stared at the face hazily.
'Where am I?' Her words emerged weak and rather slurred. She grimaced.
'You're in the Lowers, Llandry. No, I don't know how you got here. Just lie still.'
'Are you Lady Glostrum, or am I dreaming?'
'No, I'm really here.' Llandry opened her mouth but Lady Glostrum cut her off. 'Don't ask; there isn't time to explain.'
A glitter of silver caught Llandry's eye. She turned her head painfully. On the floor a few feet away lay a pool of silver links, in the midst of which rested a round piece of wrought silver. Llandry turned her eyes away but there was a familiarity about the shape of the necklace that tugged at her. She forced herself on to her hands and knees, grimly ignoring the pain, and inched her way over to it. Before she could reach it, Lady Glostrum picked it up. She handed it to her, gently pushing her back down to the ground.
Llandry turned the silver over in her hands. It was slightly oval in shape, engraved with stars. A cavity in the centre had, she knew, once held a piece of istore. She knew because she had placed it there herself.
It was undoubtedly the same pendant that Devary had been carrying.
She hardly knew how to process this new blow. Her mind and body were ripe with so much intense pain, she could barely feel any new stab of affliction. She allowed the necklace to fall from her numb fingers, blinking eyes gone bone dry.
Llandry felt herself nudged from behind. Powerfully nudged, like being kicked by a house. The impact sent new waves of agony through her abused frame and she screamed again. Lady Glostrum's eyes widened and her face turned to ash as she stared behind Llandry.
'Tren,' she said, tightly.
'Right,' said a male voice, then a pair of strong arms were around her, trying to pick her up. Everywhere she was touched her skin burned, as if a brand had been applied, and she screamed anew through the rawness in her throat. The man abandoned his attempts to gather her up, mercifully taking his hands away. Llandry ceased to be aware of anything external to her own body. She was wracked by a sensation of lengthening, as though her bones were stretching through her skin. She imagined, distantly, that this must be what it felt like to be racked.
Space opened inside of her and began to expand, pushing her flesh outwards. She felt every second as though she must explode, but somehow she did not. Instead she began to feel strong, impossibly so. She opened her eyes again, and she couldn't see Lady Glostrum anymore. Everything she saw was distorted, out of proportion. She blinked, and her eyes felt strange.
She was nudged again. This time it didn't hurt. Turning, she was confronted with a huge, dark shape, a beast whose scales glittered blue and green in the moonlight. Her vision had somehow sharpened, for now she could discern colours and textures in light that, previously, had seemed near complete darkness to her.
A long snout descended into her line of sight and pushed at her body. The gesture seemed friendly, like encouragement. Her pain finally ebbed, running off her like water, and in its place she experienced a jolt of energy. She stretched her wings and they expanded, out and out, until they encountered an obstruction.
Trees. Glissenwol caps, the same forest she had been walking through moments before, only now those stout trunks did not seem so tall. In fact the caps now hovered so close she would bump her head on them if she stretched her neck a little. The obstruction irritated her. As if in response to her unspoken command, the trees flickered and dissolved, and open air flooded in upon her. She shouted with joy, stretching her wings to their fullest extent. The wind caught under them and she was aloft, soaring into the sky with a rushing speed which terrified, then exhilarated her. Screaming in pleasure, she turned in the air like a leaf tumbling in the wind.
A terrific roar shook the air and she turned. Behind her flew the blue-scaled beast, rapidly catching up with her. He was larger than she, stronger; the gleam of his hide mesmerised her, shining gloriously with scintillating shades of blue, green and gold. She had never experienced colour in this way before: she could feel each one like a physical sensation, taste the flavours of them on the wind. She circled the creature, enthralled.
A bright flash distracted her, shining up at her from the ground. Her newly-sharp eyes caught sight of the pool of silver lying abandoned behind her, shimmering whitely under the moon. She wanted it. She flew back, covering the distance in seconds. Swooping, she caught it up in her claws. Several tiny figures gaped at her as she hurled herself back into the skies. The shape and scent and sense of their miniature forms was familiar, dragging at her memory, interrupting the wash of colour and sensation that drenched her brain. She paused, beating her wings lazily to hold herself aloft.
An image formed in her mind. A face smiled at her, pale and lit with hazel eyes. The man's brown hair fell over his shoulders. She heard music, the rippling notes of a lyre.
Another shattering roar rent the air behind her. Glittering blue scales hurtled into her line of vision, pulsing with anger. A mind invaded hers, enraged that she could turn her back on it. He was possessive, this wondrous creature; as far as he was concerned she was his. She found herself herded away from the figures on the ground, forced up into the air. She screamed her resentment, her teeth connecting with the tough meat of a scaled flank. Then she was away, her smaller size and lighter form speeding her on ahead of the beast pursuing her. All she could think of was that pale face with the brown hair and the lyre's melancholy melody.
***
Devary lay in the damp grass, dreaming. Time had drifted by him at its own pace, leaving him forgotten: had he lain in the grass for mere hours, or even days? It felt like weeks. He watched insects dance in the twilit skies, absently noting his strength draining out of him in a warm, ceaseless trickle that left his clothes wet and sticky. He had an image of red in his mind, a shockingly bright, wet colour that darkened later to a crusted, rusty brown. He realised, distantly, that he was dying but the knowledge did not disturb him. He waited for sleep.
The insects were changing colour. He noticed a ghostly grey one coming towards him, throwing out silver light. Borne on expansive wings, it grew larger and larger until it filled all of his vision with scales like polished coins. It stretched out its long neck, opened its mouth and shrieked. As it plummeted towards him, Devary noticed a bright silver object clutched tightly in one of its claws. The metal dangled freely, reflecting shards of light from mirror-smooth surfaces that dazzled him. He closed his eyes as the vast shape flew over him, feeling a rush of hot wind in its wake.
He knew he was dreaming when those claws closed gently around his body and he was carried into the air, cradled carefully against g
leaming silver-grey hide. The wind whipped around him, tugging insistently at his clothes and dragging at his wounds. Pain lanced through him and he cried out, shifting in the grip of pearlescent talons. His captor flew faster, driving hard into the face of a strong wind. Devary thought he saw another shape not far behind, this one shining in blue and green. He watched lazily as the creature pursued them, beating wings the size of houses.
Abruptly the flight was over. Devary's cloud-coloured dream-beast swooped to the ground and opened its talons, letting him settle into the engulfing embrace of Glinnery's thick blue mosses. Its mouth opened, revealing long, pearlescent teeth; it emitted an ear-splitting shriek as it hurled itself back into the sky. Devary blinked, mistrusting his vision. The beast had vanished into the air, its pursuer disappearing along with it.
Doors were flung open and the sky filled rapidly with winged human figures, chattering in shock and excitement. Devary realised that he had been deposited at the base of Ynara's tree, and here was the lady herself, descending from the heights with her glorious dark blue wings spread wide.
'Oh, Dev,' she gasped, dropping to her knees beside him. She paled to a stark white, looking into his face with the wide eyes of fear. He wondered idly how bad his wounds were. He became aware, distantly, of a warm body clinging painfully to one of his legs. Glancing down, he saw grey fur and a stub of a tail. Ynara prised Sigwide off him, and the pressure eased on Devary's calf and shin.
Aysun came up behind her and frowned down at him. Devary tried a weak smile, but his face wouldn't work properly.
'Right,' said Aysun, slowly. 'Lucky the infirmary's not far.' Devary was suddenly surrounded by people, faces bobbing blearily at him and voices raised in a babble of indistinguishable sound. He felt himself lifted again, and pain radiated outwards from the wound in his belly.