by Avril Sabine
She shrugged. “He was confused.” She paused. “Why was Kade with you?”
“That’s unimportant. Are you trying to get yourself killed? That would really piss me off.”
Amber sighed. “No. Look, I was just trying to heal him. You heard what he said. He’s been out of his head for ages. Literally. And I’m okay. He missed me. None of them can fight.”
“And what if he’d been able to fight? What then?”
“Can we drop this already? I had it all under control. He wouldn’t have hit me. I’m not an idiot. As if I’d stay still for him. Now why was Kade with you?”
Ronan pointed a finger at her. “Our deal only counts if you get yourself killed fighting Hell Hounds.”
She started to argue, but stopped herself. It’d be a waste of breath. Ronan wasn’t about to give any more than he’d already agreed to. “I don’t plan on getting myself killed. In this war or at any other time. Now take me home. I’m tired and want to get some sleep before sunrise.”
Ronan eyed her. “You’ve changed, kitten.”
“No, not really. It just took me a bit to get used to everything.” Then she shrugged. “Well, maybe I’m not always saying things the moment I think them.” She grinned. “I hear that can get you killed.”
Ronan chuckled. “Are you certain you’re not interested in Rian?”
“Positive.” She started to say he was Crystal’s then stopped.
“What?”
“Nothing. Another one of those comments it’s not necessary to speak.” If he didn’t know, she wasn’t about to tell him about Rian and Crystal.
Ronan remained quiet for a moment. “Have you found enough humans yet?”
“How many is enough?”
“Fifty, a hundred, a hundred and fifty.” He shrugged. “It’s war. Some are sure to die and need to be replaced.”
“I’ve got nearly fifty.”
“That’s a start.” He held out his hand. “I’ll take you home.”
Amber held his gaze a moment longer. She was slowly becoming accustomed to seeing gold eyes instead of pale blue. “We can make more mages again later? Ones that I can choose.”
Ronan nodded.
Feeling more relieved about her mother not jumping at the chance to become a mage, Amber took his hand. “Good.”
Ronan took her through the Void to her room. “Be careful.” He disappeared.
Behind her she could feel the energy of the Pliethin. She was trying to be careful, but sometimes war wasn’t the place for being cautious. Mentally searching for Kade, she found him near Rian, wishing she could travel through the Void to them since they were on the other side of the castle from her. Turning, she looked at the Pliethin. It was tempting, but probably not the best idea.
Instead of trying to use the Pliethin, she spoke to Kade. “I’m home, in our room.”
Kade appeared in front of her, blocking her view of the Pliethin. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. Why were you with Ronan?”
“I was checking on Stanley, making sure he didn’t kill him.”
“I’m half tempted to say ‘let him’. We’re probably not going to get anything useful out of him. And I have no idea what to do with him once we’re finished questioning him.”
“Rian seems to think we’ll learn something.”
She shrugged, looking past him to the Pliethin. “Will it be okay in there? I mean, I don’t know, does it need to eat or something?”
“No. It gains energy from its environment.” Kade looked towards the Pliethin, reaching out a hand to brush his fingers against the wooden bars. “It’s not living like us.”
Amber removed the chain from the curtain rod, holding the Pliethin up to peer in at it. She sniffed at the cage. “I can smell dragon-leather.” She ran her fingers over the timber. “I can’t feel it though.”
Kade stepped close, his hand cupping hers so he could bring the cage up to his face. He frowned. “I wonder if that helps it work.”
“And blood. I can smell dragon blood too.” She tilted the cage. “I think it’s on the ceiling and floor of the cage.”
“We might be able to make some of these ourselves,” Kade said. “That’s if we can figure out how to use them safely. Promise me you won’t use it alone.”
“Only if you promise to help me learn how to use it.”
Kade nodded. “Sounds fair.”
“Now?”
He chuckled. “How about we wait until after we’ve had a sleep.”
Even though she was tired, she really wanted to figure out how to use the Pliethin. She wanted to be able to travel the Void without any help.
“Come on, Amber. At least a few hours sleep.”
Holding the Pliethin by the chain with one hand, she brushed at the shadows under his left eye, curving her hand down across his cheek and finally resting against his neck. “I suppose. But I don’t want to leave it too long. Things are probably going to get crazy again soon.”
“You’ll get used to it. Things are regularly crazy.” He took the Pliethin from her and hung it from the curtain rod, turning back to her with a grin. “We’re dragons. We live for crazy.”
Chapter Fourteen
Amber groaned as she tried to find her phone, her eyes still closed.
“Answer it,” Kade growled from beside her.
“Trying,” she muttered, her hand finally landing on the phone instead of the surface of the chest of drawers at the side of the bed. Squinting at the phone screen she saw it was her mother. “What?”
“I’ll do it.”
Amber pushed at the sheets as she struggled to sit up. “What?”
“I’ll become a Dragon Mage. And Gary. He’s to become one too.”
“You will?” Maybe she was still asleep. No, that couldn’t be possible. When she dreamt, it was always of blood. So she had to be awake. There wasn’t a single drop of blood in sight.
“But I won’t be joining the dragons. Or Knights. I’m only doing this to learn how to protect myself from any dragons or Knights that might come after me to get at you.”
“Okay.”
“And I need someone to teach me how to fight.”
“Rian.”
“Isn’t he your bodyguard?”
“No, my first warrior. But don’t worry, he won’t leave me unprotected.” She paused. “Thank you.”
“And I don’t think you should turn your father into one either. Look what a mess he made of things by chasing after Vikki.”
Now probably wasn’t a good time to explain that Vikki had deliberately broken them up. Never would probably be the perfect time to tell her mother. “Uhm, okay.” She could worry about her father later, but it was probably safer for him if he was kept as far away from dragons as possible. She also didn’t want to risk her mother changing her mind. Besides, he knew nothing about this world and she really didn’t have time to wait for him to get over his shock. There were far too many other things to focus on right now.
“When?”
Amber struggled to keep up with the conversation. “What?”
“When do you want to do this?”
“Tomorrow. Ronan’s making the new Dragon Mages tomorrow.”
“I guess you’ll send someone for us.”
“Yeah.” Why had she stayed up so late? Maybe a bit more sleep might have helped her keep up with the conversation. “Have you told Jay?”
“No. I’ll ring him now. See you tomorrow, Amber.”
“Okay.” She stared at her phone after her mother had hung up.
“You don’t look happy about this,” Kade said.
She met his eyes. “Yeah, I am. I’m just…” her voice trailed off as she tried to think how to explain her feelings. “Surprised. No, confused. I thought for sure she’d take a lot more convincing.” She dropped back against her pillow. “I guess that means we’ve only got one more mage to find.”
“It’ll have to wait. Ronan expects us there after breakfast, remember?”
“
I’m not hungry yet.”
Kade chuckled. “Dragon.” The word was an endearment.
Amber rolled onto her side, smiling as she faced him. Before she could speak, a message came through on her phone. She laughed as she read her brother’s message. Am I a genius or what? She tilted the phone so Kade could read it. When Kade chuckled, she smiled, rising from the bed. “I want to learn how to use the Pliethin before we visit Ronan.”
“Right now?”
Amber nodded, reaching for her weapons that were on the floor beside the bed. “Yep.” Once her weapons were in place and she’d slid her phone into a pocket, she crossed the room to take the Pliethin down. Holding onto the chain she faced Kade, who had his sword at his side and was pulling on a dragon-leather vest to match his trousers. “How do we do this?”
Kade strode towards her, wrapping his arm around her waist, still facing her. “You don’t let go of the Pliethin and I don’t let go of you. That way neither of us should get lost in the Void.”
“Okay. Then what do I do?”
“Exactly what you did yesterday.”
“It’d be nice if you could be helpful,” she muttered as she pushed her fingers into the cage. She had no idea what she’d done yesterday. Other than not wanting Ronan to get the Pliethin from her. She took a step backwards, Kade moving with her. Nothing happened.
“Try and feel like you’re stepping through a doorway.”
“How do you feel that? It’s more of a visual thing.”
“No it’s not. There’s a sensation to it. Going from one place to another.”
“Great.” She glared at the Pliethin, trying to figure out how to feel a sensation that didn’t really exist. She took another step backwards. Again nothing. Swearing she took a step forward, pressing against Kade. That didn’t help either. She closed her eyes. A doorway. She could do this. Somehow. Picturing a doorway, she stepped backwards. Opening her eyes she didn’t see any difference. “That’s a stupid explanation. It didn’t work.”
“Maybe it’s different when you’re a mage. You did it yesterday. You should be able to do it again today.”
“Maybe you’re the problem.”
“Don’t even think about going into the Void by yourself again.”
“What about when you first went into the Void. Did you do it by yourself?”
“That’s different.”
“How is it?”
“I knew what I was doing.”
“Then tell me so I’ll know what to do.”
“I’ve already told you. Focus on the sensation of stepping through a doorway. Then step through it. If you move when you’re first learning, it’s easier. You can move backwards or forwards, it doesn’t matter. Then you do the same to come out into the place you came in from.”
“Fine. You and me walking through a doorway.” She took a step backwards and felt like the air around her thickened. “I did it.” She grinned. “I did it.” Her grin faded. “It was me, wasn’t it? You didn’t help.”
“I didn’t help.” Kade grinned. “Even though you were driving me crazy with your attempts. Now how about you leave the Void.”
“Okay. Stepping out of the Void.” She took another step backwards, but nothing happened. Maybe it had been a fluke. No, she wouldn’t accept that. She thought about how she’d entered the Void, then smiled. “You and me.” She took a step backwards, coming out of the Void. “It is your fault.”
“What’s my fault?”
“I can’t just think of walking through a doorway, or the sensation or whatever you want to call it. I have to think of the two of us. You actually were stopping me from entering.” She frowned. “I wonder…” her voice trailed off. Surely it couldn’t be that easy.
“What are you thinking?”
“Okay, if I think of staying here, not moving, you try and take us into the Void.”
“Now?”
Amber nodded, trying to think of ways to anchor herself to the spot. She swore when they entered the Void. “Take us back out again.” When they were out, she said, “Okay, count to five then try to enter the Void.” This time instead of an anchor, she focused on being rooted to the spot. The scents of the area, the sounds and the sensation of being in this particular room. Time passed and she started to ask when he was about to try. They entered the Void. “Oh, it didn’t work.”
“Yeah, it did. I was trying to shift us for nearly a minute before I managed to.”
“It worked?”
Kade nodded.
She let go of the Pliethin and threw her arms around him, his still around her waist. “I did it?”
“Yeah and you better not let go of the Pliethin if it’s you who enters the Void.”
“I’m not an idiot.” She couldn’t stop grinning. “Take us out of the Void so I can try again. This time I want to see if I can do it without the Pliethin.”
She couldn’t. No matter how hard she tried, Kade was able to take her into the Void. The moment she touched the Pliethin, he couldn’t. Then she practiced entering and leaving the Void a few more times.
“I wonder if you could stop someone taking you into the Void.”
Kade nodded. “Only if I’m stronger then them. Mental strength, not physical strength.”
“Does that mean I’m mentally stronger than you?”
Kade chuckled. “You wish. No, it’ll be because of the Pliethin. It’s energy. That’s far stronger than most minds.”
“I wonder if it’d be stronger than Ronan’s mind.”
“I don’t know.”
“Then let’s go and have breakfast so we can find out.” With Kade’s arm still around her, she touched her fingers to the Pliethin and took them into the Void. “Now how do I get us to the dinning room?”
“You can’t. You haven’t entered the Void from there before. You’ll only be able to take us to the dungeon.”
“How do I do that?”
“It’s a thread. Like a sliver of light. Can you see it?”
“Maybe.”
“Then take hold of it.”
“Both my hands are full.”
“Not with your hands. Your mind.”
“I really wish you’d learn to explain yourself a lot better.”
“Maybe you’re just not good at understanding dragon things.”
“I doubt it.” She looked around, seeing what looked like a pinpoint of light. Staring at it, she tried to see it better. The pinpoint became a thread. “Okay, now what?”
“Draw it to yourself. Picture the place you want to go and tug it to you with the thread.”
She tugged it towards herself and the dungeon seemed to come towards her in a rush. Swaying, she was glad that the heaviness of the air kept her on her feet. As soon as she was steady, she stepped out of the Void. Grinning, she let go of the Pliethin to throw her arms around Kade and kiss him. “I did it.”
“Yep.” His arms tightened around her and he took them through the Void to the dinning room. “Now let’s have breakfast before I starve to death.”
She laughed. “It’s going to take more than an hour to starve.”
“Try a couple of hours.”
“It wasn’t.” She drew away slightly so she could check the time. “It was. I didn’t realise.” Her stomach grumbled as the smell of breakfast reminded her that she needed to eat. “Okay. Breakfast and then we’ll see Ronan. I want to see if I can keep him from taking me through the Void.” She grinned. “I really hope I can.”
“That would have been handy against Tahmid.”
Sitting at the table, Amber nodded. “We need to figure out how to make these cages. Jasper needs one.”
“I would have thought you’d want to see if they worked for your first warrior.”
She started to say that wouldn’t be a problem shortly, then stopped. It wasn’t time to let Kade or Crystal know what Rian planned to do. “I’ll tell him about it.”
As soon as they’d finished breakfast, Amber let Rian know they were going to see Ronan. Kade t
ook them through the Void to Ronan’s rooftop garden, coming out beside the water garden. They were alone.
“Hold onto me so I can take us back into the Void to get a string for here.”
“A pathway.”
“String, pathway, it doesn’t matter what they’re called.” She slid her fingers into the cage, stepping backwards with Kade’s arm around her. Grinning at how much easier it was getting, she took another step backwards and left the Void.
Ronan appeared beside them. “What are you doing?” His eyes were drawn to Amber’s fingers still pushed between the bars of the cage. “And why are you using the Pliethin?”
Amber withdrew her fingers from the cage, stepping away from Kade. “I wasn’t doing it alone. Kade was helping me.”
“You’re as bad as each other.”
“No we’re not. Actually, I was hoping you could help me test something.”
“Not if it’s to do with that.” Ronan gestured towards the cage.
“I want to see if I can stop you from taking me into the Void. Kade can’t shift me.”
“He’s a child. Of course he can’t shift you.”
Amber smiled. “What about you?”
Ronan closed the distance between them. “As if I’d have a problem shifting you.” His hand shot out and he grabbed hold of her arm.
Before Amber had a chance to touch the Pliethin again, Ronan took her through the Void to his crypt. “I wasn’t ready.”
“Do you think your enemies will wait for you to be ready?”
“Of course not, but I’m still learning. Give me until the count of ten before you try to shift me. Please?”
Ronan held her gaze for a moment before he nodded.
As much as she didn’t like to stay in the crypt, Amber focused on rooting herself to the spot. The air felt like it tried to close in on her as she fought to hold onto the location. Then she was torn out of it, standing in the Void looking through a haze at the crypt. They came out of the Void and back into the crypt almost instantly. “It didn’t work.”
“In a way it did.”
“What way?”
“I couldn’t shift you straight through the Void to the location I wanted to take you to. I had to bring you into the Void. And it was a struggle to do that with the way the Void kept trying to force us out of it. Most dragons wouldn’t be planing to shift into the Void, they’d aim to shift you to another location through the Void. It’ll give you time to call for help.”