Return of the Dragonborn: The Complete Trilogy

by N. M. Howell

  “Andie, you’re bleeding,” Yara said. “Maybe we should go.”

  “No,” Andie said, louder than she meant to. “I’ll be fine. There are worse injuries. I didn’t come all this way and go through all that to leave without having some of my questions answered.”

  She wasn’t lying; her dragon blood had begun to heal her instantly. In a matter of moments she would be fine.

  With her friends’ help, Andie rose to her feet and stepped forward to the door. Carefully, with the gravity of everything she’d suffered on her shoulders, Andie pushed the door open. It was like nothing she could have imagined. The room is massive, obviously spelled to seem smaller from the outside. It was made entirely of blue stone, which was said to have magical properties, but Andie had never seen it before. The room was so huge it seemed that it must have been bigger than the archives, bigger than Leabherlann itself. In the center of the space was an enormous circular pool bordered by yet another kind of stone; on the stone were carved symbols that Andie couldn’t decipher. There was a mist, heavier and more nerve-wracking than any natural mist, hanging about.

  The voices suddenly came back again, but now only as whispers. As the three young sorceresses neared the pool, Andie could hear a multitude of fleeting cries rising from the pool. Andie hurried forward, despite herself.

  “I don’t believe it,” Carmen said.

  “This is impossible,” said Yara. “This shouldn’t even be here. It shouldn’t even exist. It’s just a legend.”

  “Hello!” Andie said, leaning over the pool. “Hello! Can you hear me? Tell me how to help you! I’m here to save you!”

  “Andie, I meant what I said, I’d follow you anywhere, but maybe we should take a minute to think this through,” Yara cautioned. “If this portal is real, then maybe the legends are, too.”

  “You mean the terrifying stories?” said Carmen. “The ones where a few kids mysteriously go missing every few years, never to be heard from again? Or the ones where entire nations waged war just to look at this thing? Nothing good can come of that thing.”

  But Andie was beyond them. Leaning far over the pool and peering inside, she could see them. The people. Her people. The dragonborn were there, with their colorful hair, iridescent eyes, and dragon scale armor. There, too, were dragons—great magnificent beasts larger and more beautiful than imagination, stunning beyond description. One of the people looked up, straight up and into Andie’s eyes.

  “Help us,” he called weakly.

  It was in that moment that Andie knew her dreams were real. All of them.

  “Carmen, Yara, they’re in danger. We have to help them.”

  “Who?” they asked simultaneously.

  Andie beckoned them over to the pool. At first, they didn’t seem to see anything, but when she saw their eyes go wide she knew they finally saw.

  “I see them!” Yara said.

  “Yeah,” said Carmen. “And I can hear them, too!”

  “Good,” Andie said. “Because this is the only opportunity we’ll ever get to save them.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Carmen and Yara took a moment, clearly still not fully believing. Maybe they couldn’t believe it was real or maybe they couldn’t believe it was happening to them, but Andie couldn’t afford to give them the time they needed to process. And neither could her people.

  “Carmen, Yara, I need you to guard this room,” she said. “We know they’re watching us and we know they mean to stop us. I need you now. All my people need you.”

  The two girls looked at each other and then at Andie.

  “We’ll do everything we can,” Carmen said.

  She and Yara hurried back over to the door and stood guard. They began to slowly wave their hands in front of themselves, the fingers beginning to glow as they closed the door and cast enchantments across it. Andie turned back to the pool and leaned over it as far as she could without falling in. As Carmen and Yara chanted into the hallway behind her, Andie called into the pool below. It seemed as if they could hardly hear her and only intermittently, as if she were some radio signal that couldn’t come through clearly. She could see them turn their faces up every now and then, responding to some clip of her voice that had fought its way through. She couldn’t hear them either, try as she might, and she nearly fell in twice trying to put her face close enough to the pool to make sense of the rising murmurs. Then she got an idea. She remembered how she’d released her dragon essence in Leabherlann. Astral projection had allowed her spirit to be free in order to accomplish tasks her mind could not; it wouldn’t be necessary to go full spirit, just enough to get a certain degree of distance between body and spirit. She released the smallest part of herself, enough to connect with the visions in the pool, but not so much that she lost the effective use of her corporeal body. She existed then in two states simultaneously.

  “Help us, please!” one woman cried.

  “Time is running out!” said another.

  Andie’s projection allowed her to see beyond the women to the mountain. Covering every inch of the peak that she could see were her people, frightened, breathless, unable to move for lack of anywhere to run to. Husbands were cradling their wives, who were in turn cradling their children. Suddenly their numbers and suffering were laid out before Andie in a vast panorama of misfortune. And then she saw it: the spell rolling across the land that was so massive it took up all the space between land and sky. On and on it came, relentless, inevitable, a storm of violent magic unlike anything ever seen on earth and as purple as the deepest heart of lavender. It was so close, unbelievably close, and it was destroying everything it touched. If the dragonborn couldn’t escape, their entire race would be finished. And what would that mean for their descendants?

  Then Andie saw her, looking up from the portal and speaking to her. The woman seemed calmer than the rest, as if she had decided on a course of peace. She was standing on the forward-most precipice of the mountain and she was so beautiful the word must have been created for her. She gazed up at Andie like a mother gazing at her child and, amazingly, despite the destruction and fear surrounding her, the woman was smiling. Andie knew the smile was for her, to calm her down so she could focus and help them. She focused on the woman.

  “Tell me what to do,” Andie said. “I’ll do anything.”

  “What is your name?” the woman asked.

  “Andie.”

  “It is my honor, Andie. I am called Saeryn. All you need to do is focus on the dragon magic inside of you.”

  “How did you know-”

  “Only a dragonborn could have heard my calls. And only a dragonborn can save us. Just focus on the magic that is already inside of you, deep within, in the very paoum of your soul. Let those deeper parts of yourself guide you. Your spirit and instincts already know what to do.”

  Andie felt the anxiety and fear like a thousand tons of cold pressure on her chest. She turned to look at Carmen and Yara—now done casting enchantments and patiently standing guard. They had no idea she was one of the dragonborn. She loved them and trusted them, but she’d never asked them how they felt about dragons and the race they created. What if they feared her? What if they couldn’t accept her? What if they tried to kill her?

  “I can’t,” she said. “It’s too dangerous.”

  “Be brave, Andie. Fear alone is the great danger. Only you can pull us through and when you do we will protect you. There will be nothing on Earth that can harm you. Our moments here in our own time are diminishing. We cannot stay here a minute longer, you must bring us through to your time.”

  Necessity had taken her choice from her and now all Andie had left was her duty to her people. She closed her eyes and dropped the veil of her disguise. She returned to the brilliant, luminous truth of her heritage and she was more beautiful than can be described. But just as she dropped the veil, there was a massive explosion on the other side of the door. The blast jolted all three girls and Andie’s projection snapped back home as Carmen and Yara s
tumbled against the pillars.

  “What was that?” Yara screamed.

  “Andie, I think we’re going to have to-”

  But as Carmen turned and saw Andie she stopped short. Yara saw her, too. There was a long silence while Andie grew tense, watching her friends watch her and waiting for some reaction, any indication at all of how they truly felt. And then, like a light in the darkness, Yara laughed.

  “I knew it!” she said. “I’d been suspecting for months, but I knew it! All your questions and research and mystery. All those items you tried to find and your secrecy about your mother and your family. I knew it, I knew you were dragonborn.”

  “Is that okay?” Andie asked.

  “Are you kidding? It’s awesome. You’re my friend, Andie, I’ll take you as you are.”

  They smiled at each other. Andie turned to Carmen, who was still staring slack-jawed.

  “And you?” Andie asked.

  “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I was scared and I didn’t know if you would be afraid. Or, kill me, if we’re speaking truthfully.”

  Carmen simply stared. Just then another explosion shook the entire room and several of the huge chandeliers fell from the ceiling. They were running out of time and in more ways than one. Carmen ran over to Andie and hugged her. The embrace said so much that nothing else was necessary.

  “You and I are going to talk about this later,” Carmen said. “But right now, we need to do what we came here for.”

  “What’s on the other side of that door?” Andie asked.

  Another explosion boomed through the hall and this one caused cracks to spread through the entire wall. Whatever or whoever was outside would be inside soon enough. Carmen and Yara waved their hands again and sealed the cracks in the wall, but they knew time was short. Now they could hear shouting on the other side of the door. Andie recast her partial projection. It allowed her to see through the door as if nothing were there: on the other side were several professors, hooded monitors—the University’s security—and Tarven. So, finally, he’d chosen a side. Fortunately, there were no Searchers or guns, which would have meant a sure and painful death. At least now maybe they had a chance, however slight. Andie couldn’t help herself: she wished Raesh were there.

  “Andie, you must hurry.”

  It was Saeryn calling from the pool. Carmen and Yara, understanding, hurried back to the wall and pushed with all of their magic to protect it, yet there was no way the two of them could stand long against the power on the other side of the wall. Andie ran back to the pool and took a deep breath. She turned her spirit inside, into her blood. She’d held herself back for so long that to release her full ability again would take real effort. She searched and reached deep down into the magic she hadn’t disturbed since she was a child. Since her mother was taken. It was obvious the magic was there, but perhaps it had been dormant too long. No. There it was, curled and slumbering like the great beasts from which it came. She reached for it, almost had it in her grasp, when an explosion ripped the room asunder. Carmen and Yara were thrown back several feet and Andie was blasted into one of the pillars. The explosion was so powerful that it split the room in two across the ceiling. Only the strength of the mountain and the pillars interspersed throughout the room kept it all from collapsing.

  Through the rip where the door used to be came Professor Harrock, Tarven, and all the others. Their faces were full of rage.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Andie got up, slower than she meant to, but it felt as if some of her ribs might be broken. The dragon magic was kicking in to help heal her, but before she could say a word or even get all the way back on her feet, one of the apoplectic professors threw a lightning bolt at her. It came faster than sound and more blinding than a flash of the sun. It hit Andie before she even knew it had been cast and knocked her even further back. This time she didn’t try to get up.

  “Tarven,” she called from where she lay, “Help us.”

  “There’s no help for you now, Andie,” he said. “Just lie there. Maybe this can be over quickly.”

  Andie tried to raise herself up, just to her knees, but even the dragon magic couldn’t heal those wounds so fast.

  “Why?” she asked. “What could possibly make you so evil?”

  “Why does it matter? I’ve been with them for years, before I ever even met you. There was never even a chance for you. I studied you and memorized your history before you set foot in Arvall City. We knew who you were when you applied to the University. Do you really think the University doesn’t keep a record of the people they’ve killed? When they took your mother, they marked your family for surveillance. You and your father were never alone in Michaelson. I bet you think what happened to him was an accident.”

  Andie almost stopped breathing.

  “That’s impossible. It was an accident.”

  “It was made to look like one. They were never going to let you go. The only reason you lived this long is because they were curious about their own security. They only let you live to test the weaknesses of their own system. Your entire life was an experiment.”

  “And a very successful one,” said a new voice.

  Andie recognized it instantly. It was the voice she’d heard talking with Tarven that night in Leabherlann. And now she knew why his voice sounded familiar. It was Myamar Mharú, chancellor of western Noelle. Andie had only ever seen him once before; he gave a speech at the University around the beginning of the year. Still, Andie could hardly focus on him or anything else. She was heartbroken to know that Tarven had betrayed her so absolutely. She’d always known something was off, always had her suspicions. She even caught him in the middle of one or two blatant lies, but she’d never suspected that his deception ran this deep, that his disdain for her and everything she was could be so huge. But she had to focus. Tarven had made his decision and now she had to make hers. She had people to save, and now that included Carmen and Yara. Tarven stepped forward. He reached inside his tuxedo jacket and removed a small bronze and black plant in a tiny pot. Decepticatus.

  “Remember this little guy?” Tarven taunted. “I’m surprised you didn’t guess from the name, but they feed on human lies. The day you saw him leaning toward me was because I was lying to you. Idiot. Now, let’s see what you have to say. Do you know where any other dragonborn are?”

  “No,” Andie said through gritted teeth.

  The plant leaned toward her.

  “Is your father fully disabled?”

  “Yes.”

  “Have you found any books in Leabherlann with information you shouldn’t have?”

  Andie paused for a moment, trying to make herself believe her words.

  “No.”

  The little bronze plant leaned further toward Andie and waved its limbs.

  “Lie number two,” Tarven said. “Do you have the means of opening this portal?”

  “No.”

  The plant leaned over even more and waved a little harder.

  “Lie number three. Are there any dragons that are still alive?”

  “No.”

  The plant leaned even more and Andie was ashamed.

  “Hm.”

  The power of the dragons that ran through her blood had healed her enough to stand and without thinking she pushed herself to her feet with magic. No one was expecting it. Andie raised her hands and slammed them down against the floor; a wave of energy rippled out across it, cracking the stones and flinging the men as it went. She waved her hands and erected a shield before her. Her spells could go out, but theirs couldn’t get in. Before anyone had time to think, spells were flying back and forth everywhere in a kind of crazed firework show. Stone exploded into dust in the air as wildly aimed spells missed their mark and collided with the walls and pillars. Andie moved like water, casting counter charms faster than ever before. She ducked and slid to safety as one of the professors held his throat and breathed fire. Andie gripped him with magic and fused his body with a stone pill
ar. He struggled, but couldn’t pull away. He wouldn’t be bothering her for a while. She hadn’t even fully understood how she did what she did to him. Tarven was across the room, behind Professor Harrock, pretending to be fierce, but really just hiding. He never was very good at casting.

  “What’s wrong with you people?” Andie screamed, taking shelter behind a pillar while she regrouped. “If you don’t let me get to that portal, an entire race of people will die! Don’t you understand that? All my people will be dead!”

  “It’s really for the best,” came Professor Harrock’s condescending voice. “The dragonborn are a threat and a plague. If you honestly think we would risk allowing them to be free in our time, then you haven’t been paying attention. They will die tonight. And only time will tell if you die before or after that portal is a pile of ash. If your race goes extinct in history…Well, let’s just say it doesn’t bode well for those of you still around today. There’s no escape, no resistance, no hope. You can only-”

  Andie heard Professor Harrock give a grunt and then she heard a heavy thump. She peaked around the pillar and saw him on his knees. He seemed to have fallen there and he was clutching his chest. When his hands dropped, Andie could see that his chest had been shot through and a hole was left straight in the middle, next to his heart. He fell forward head first, unconscious or dead, Andie couldn’t tell. Andie froze in a daze and held her hand to her mouth in shock, holding in a scream, as she stared at his body lying still on the floor. She was quickly brought back to reality as she heard crashes and bangs around her, spells flying this way and that. What was this coming to? She looked around as she cast spells, trying to see where the attack had come from. She saw Yara still lying unconscious near the door, but Carmen had her hand up and extended in Harrock’s direction, as if just finished casting a spell. One of the other professors tried to bring a pillar down on her, but Carmen shielded herself and the part of the pillar that touched her vanished into particles.