Hushed, Tales of Ryca, Book 2

by Shereen Vedam

  She wanted him to view her with admiration, yet every action she’d taken so far – ignoring Bevan’s call for help, disobeying her mother and allowing Thyel to beguile her – all of it warranted no more than Jarrod’s contempt.

  JARROD LOVES TAMARA, Halla gave her a worried backward glance.

  No, Tamara replied, he doesn’t.

  JARROD FOOLISH THEN, the green growled. TAMARA MUCH LOVABLE. HALLA LOVES TAMARA.

  The warmth accompanying that proclamation made her smile. She turned to search with a lighter heart. There were few places to hide in the meadows below. Her gaze scanned for a sign of Thyel’s dark brown tunic and black head of hair.

  Movement caught her eye, but it wasn’t Thyel. It was that lizardy thing again. This time, the beast wasn’t hiding. It gazed up at her boldly while hanging precariously to the side of the trunk of a young oak.

  Was she imagining things again? She must be, because the idea this thing could have followed her from world to world was too farfetched.

  Keeping her eyes pinned on its long billowy green hair, yellowy-green skin, sharp face and wide white eyes, Tamara whispered to Halla, Do you see what I see?

  Tamara felt the lightest touch of the dragon’s mind and then Halla turned her head toward the oak.

  YES, SEE LITTLE BEAST. WANT FOR EATING?

  “Eeek!” cried the lizard as if it had overheard Halla’s mind-talk. How could that be? It scampered off to the other side of the oak.

  Halla flew toward the oak and circled low around the copse of trees. Finally, she landed by the tree in question and walked around it. They couldn’t spot the little being.

  “Let’s keep looking for Thyel,” Tamara said, frowning. She didn’t want to be distracted from her quest. Thyel was dangerous, while the lizard was a mere curiosity. The dragon winged her way into the air. Tamara glanced back toward the oak, but the green lizard did not show itself.

  At least now she knew she wasn’t imagining it, for Halla, too, had sighted it. Unless what Halla saw was a reflection of what Tamara imagined. Was that possible? She shrugged and looked away. She’d ask her father about it when she returned. If this thing really existed, he would know of it.

  Halla suddenly gave a strident cry filled with fear.

  Tamara searched for the source of the green’s distress. Finding nothing, she focused on Halla’s thoughts. There, she pictured Kiron hovering low to the ground with Skye and Fane on his back. Thyel, standing on the ground, was magically wielding a black band lassoed around the bronze’s neck to hold him in place. The same cord he’d used on Halla.

  Kiron screamed in agony.

  Seething with rage, Halla swung about and flew in the direction of the male dragon. Tamara was confused. Fane had got rid of that cord, hadn’t he? While hunting for a suitably long vine to tether the two dragons together, Thyel had been absent. If he was capable of casting spells, Light or Dark, he could have somehow retrieved that cord from wherever Fane threw it.

  Hurry! she called to the dragon.

  They arrived in time to see Kiron land and slump before Thyel.

  Fane and Skye rolled free.

  Halla dove, inhaling air, readying to spew fire on the man attacking her mate.

  Thyel quickly climbed onto the bronze as Halla landed. “Stay back,” he warned.

  Unable to fire without harming Kiron, Halla snapped.

  Thyel drew back his clenched fist and the band around the bronze’s throat tightened, pressing into his scales until Kiron coughed.

  “Stand down,” Tamara said to Halla, gently patting her neck in warning.

  The dragon stomped a foot, frustrated by the command but understanding the danger to Kiron.

  Thyel’s smile stretched wide as he relaxed his fist. The cord loosened and Kiron took a desperate breath. “Welcome, Tamara. Was your reunion with your father pleasant?”

  “What do you want?” she asked as Fane and Skye came over to stand beside Halla.

  “You have no right to ride Kiron,” Fane said.

  A glance down showed the lad’s face wreathed with matching agony to what shadowed Kiron’s features. He must feel every hurt his dragon did, while she, through Halla, only sensed a tiny portion of the bronze’s suffering.

  “I repeat,” she said, “what do you want?”

  “I wanted you,” he replied.

  “Liar! You be-spelled and used me.”

  He shook his head, smiling. “I see your father’s been busy. My spell was merely to make you more amenable, my love. You have a strong mind and I needed to bend it a little.”

  “Why? What am I to you?”

  All his smiles vanished. “You are my doorway to reclaim what should have rightfully been given to me. Your mother was meant to adopt me as her son, and take my father as her husband. Foolishly, she rejected both of us.”

  “She never even knew you existed,” Tamara said.

  Thyel’s eyes hardened but then he visibly relaxed, shrugging. “Her loss. With my father murdered by your vile lame sister, my next best option was to take you as my wife. It would have brought me into the royal family of Ryca, where I belong.”

  “You’re a bastard, Thyel.” Tamara spoke in a mild tone, layering each word with contempt. “You’ll always remain one no matter how much you squirm.”

  “Tamara,” Skye whispered fiercely, “this is not helping!”

  Thyel laughed. “And you wonder why I want you? We are perfect for each other. You have a feisty temper I admire and a disdain for your family that I respect and mirror. If only the scholarly Jarrod had not distracted you. However, he’s no longer an issue.”

  His smug look sent fear spiraling through Tamara. “What have you done?”

  “You’ll find out soon enough. I’ve another matter to tend to. My father tells me the boy prince is free on Melak and is making a nuisance of himself. It’s time to end his stay there, permanently.”

  “No,” Skye shouted and ran forward.

  Thyel squeezed his fist and Kiron writhed.

  Skye stumbled to a halt.

  “Never fear, Skye,” Thyel said, “you and Fane may accompany me to greet your brother. I’ll need Fane’s assistance to travel with this beast to Melak and your seeking ability to find the boy.”

  “I’ll never help you,” Skye said.

  “You will if you want this beast to live,” Thyel said.

  “We’ll come!” Fane shouted, taking Skye’s hand.

  She shook off his hold. “I won’t betray my brother.” She gave Fane an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Fane, I can’t.”

  “Then do it to save your grandfather,” Thyel asked. “And Tamara’s beloved Jarrod.”

  “What do you mean?” Tamara asked, heart squeezing in horror. “Speak plainly.”

  Thyel gestured with his free hand. “My father has gone to capture yours and your lover. He’s taking them to the dark side, to give them a taste of his reality.”

  His gaze returned to Skye. “You have a choice. If you don’t help me, you will be responsible for Kiron’s death and Fane’s. I’ll also delay your aunt so she can’t race to the others’ rescue.”

  He shrugged with false sympathy. “I cannot guarantee how the Chief Councilor will fare, for those of the flesh cannot survive on the dark side without protection. However, if you come with me, there’s a slim chance your grandfather’s spirit might escape. What is it to be, Skye?”

  She looked at Tamara with shocked eyes. She wanted Tamara to help her decide and Tamara was more than happy to oblige. She knew exactly what needed to be done.

  “Bevan’s already freed himself once, Skye. He’s both smart and powerful. Even if you lead Thyel to him, your brother can defeat Thyel. I’m certain of it. Go with him, and protect Kiron. I’ll find my father and Jarrod.”

  “I can’t,” Skye said. “I won’t give Bevan up.”

  “A family dilemma. What to do, what to do?” Thyel grinned and tightened his hold making the bronze quiver.

  “Please help me, Sky
e,” Fane said. “Don’t let him kill Kiron.”

  Halla spoke to her. Tamara listened and then looked directly at Skye. “Halla says that if Kiron dies, so might Fane. They’re connection is too deep to sever.”

  Tears welled in Skye’s eyes and her lips trembled.

  Tamara’s heart broke for her niece. She’d came on this quest to save her brother and was now being asked to give him up to the man who engineered his kidnapping.

  With a cry Skye nodded and she and Fane hurried over to the bronze.

  Tamara couldn’t stay here any longer. She had to find Jarrod and her father to warn them of danger. She tugged on Halla, but the green refused to move.

  NOT LEAVE KIRON, was her stubborn response.

  Then Tamara remembered how she had contacted her father while traveling between worlds. She closed her eyes and called to him.

  A vision immediately appeared of tortured screams, and a warren of darkness where dark spirits swirled, directing her away from one tiny corner where light blazed. At the center of that bright oasis, her father and Jarrod stood with hands outstretched, fighting to keep the encroaching darkness at bay.

  Tamara came back to the present to find Skye sitting on Kiron, between Thyel and Fane. Kiron rose in the air and in the space of one breath, all four were gone.

  WE FOLLOW KIRON, Halla commanded.

  No, Tamara said. Their battle. Ours is to free my father and Jarrod.

  KIRON WILL DIE, Halla pleaded.

  My father needs me, Tamara insisted. When he needed me last time, I wasn’t there. This time I have to help him and Jarrod.

  Halla shook her head. KING’S SPIRIT STRONG. HE FREE HIMSELF AND JARROD. SEND JARROD TO YOU. WE HELP KIRON.

  Tamara sat still on the dragon, shuddering with indecision. Her father hadn’t been able to save himself the last time Tamarisk attacked him. What about Jarrod?

  DECIDE OR TOO LATE FOR KIRON, YOUR FATHER AND JARROD. Halla dropped her head in defeat. I GO WHERE TAMARA GOES.

  Follow Kiron to Skye and Bevan’s aid, or go to the depths of hell to rescue her father and Jarrod. Either way, she would be letting some member of her family down.

  With a heavy heart, Tamara made her choice.

  Chapter 17

  Tamara soared into Melak on Halla’s back. They arrived in the middle of a deluge. Thunder shuddered in counterpoint to flashes of lightning. Rain pelted her head and shoulders. Tamara caught her breath at the elusive glimpses of the drowning countryside before wet black sheets concealed the view. Within moments, she was thoroughly soaked and shivering.

  Too dangerous to remain airborne, she told Halla. We must land.

  WHERE? Halla’s tone was more abrupt than normal.

  Lightning ripped across the blackness. Tamara blinked away reflected streaks of light, wondering if that pounding was the buffeting rain, her drumming heart or Halla’s thundering pulse hammering against her legs. Are you all right?

  HALLA LAND, the green replied, flapping hard.

  The descent took a long while. Beneath her, Tamara felt the dragon’s legs extend, reaching for anything solid. Just as she asked, Could we be above water? Halla jerked to a sudden halt, claws scrabbling to hold onto something.

  Tamara half slid off the dragon’s back and struggled to get her lower limbs back in place, her arms clenched around the scaly neck. Halla had found a perch but was having a hard time balancing.

  WEAK BRANCH. Halla sounded petrified.

  The branch snapped and they plummeted. The sound of cracking branches was punctuated by a terrified scream, but she wasn’t sure if that last sound came from her or Halla.

  Their rapid descent ended with another jarring halt. Tamara wrapped her arms fiercely around the dragon, her heart thudding in joy at no longer falling. Only her arms held her in place, for her legs were swinging free.

  The ground pulled her downward and her precarious panicked grip on the green’s wet scales slipped. Not to complain, Halla, but we seem to be hanging upside down!

  Halla grasped something higher up and heaved upward, bringing her other foot to join its partner. The bough bent dangerously as she shifted her enormous weight onto it but it held.

  The new platform allowed Tamara to sit with her legs straddling the dragon’s shoulders again. She collapsed against Halla’s neck, relief coursing through her. Though she had often imagined leaping to her death, she wasn’t yet ready to face the end of her existence.

  Lightning flashed, revealing a giant tropical forest in every direction. The lush greenery seemed never-ending. The canopy concealed the ground and any dangers that lurked beneath.

  If this tree they perched on was any indication, the stature of the plants on this world was enormous. Halla might as well be a bird sitting on a limb instead of a dragon that would ordinarily dwarf a tree.

  Well, Tamara said, easing apart the bands of panic constricting her chest, I’d say we’ve arrived on Melak.

  Halla gave a shiver and stretched her wings before tucking them in with an emphatic swoosh that conveyed better than words her opinion of this new world.

  Tamara shared the dragon’s unease. Not a propitious start to this leg of their journey. How were they to find Kiron, Skye and Fane in all this darkness? Had they made a mistake in coming here instead of going in search of Jarrod and her father? When it came time to decide, she’d known she really had only one acceptable choice.

  Her father was already dead, and Jarrod was a man with more mysterious powers than even she knew about. Whereas Skye, along with Fane and Kiron, were under a madman’s control. Most important of all, she owed Bevan for letting him down. She couldn’t get past that last debt.

  Besides, no matter how powerful Bevan was, magic did not function on Melak.

  On Ryca, even though she couldn’t cast one spell, she had always been able to sense the presence of Light. Frustratingly so. She had felt it within her family, in the time spell that confined her, even in the air she breathed. Like a comforting childhood blanket, Light had always been present, just out of reach.

  Here, the world felt empty but for the fury of nature. She shivered.

  Halla mimicked the motion and added a warm THANK YOU FOR COMING TO DEAD PLACE FOR KIRON.

  Tamara patted the dragon’s neck. The howling wind and hammering rain made verbal conversation impossible, so she was grateful this magic-dampened place hadn’t silenced their mental connection. I don’t see how we’ll find him in this weather.

  WAIT FOR DAYLIGHT?

  Yes. The delay irked, but what choice did they have? Fly out blindly and get killed? That wouldn’t help anyone.

  She hoped Thyel, too, would be wise enough to wait out this storm. For Skye and Fane’s safety as much as to ensure he didn’t get too much of a head start. Assuming they had all arrived at relatively the same location on Melak.

  Halla inched along the branch to settle closer to the trunk and invited Tamara to shelter beneath her wing.

  Tamara thanked her and scrambled down to do so. She sat with her back against the dragon’s warm leg. Her worry for all those whom she loved kept her company. She prayed a new day would bring illumination to the world as well as clarity to her mind. With lighting and thunder muted by Halla’s leathery wing, Tamara drifted off to sleep.

  Jarrod’s hands cupped Tamara’s face and turned her toward him. They were on a meadow so pleasant and peaceful that she guessed they were on Ashari. She ran her hand along his smooth dark cheek, and gazed into his black eyes in wonder. His love for her was clear, strong and true. She had never expected to see such devotion, not for her.

  “Have you been behaving yourself?” he asked in that deep somber tone she loved.

  “I thought you could read my mind.”

  He chuckled and bent to kiss her but stopped short of meeting her lips. “Tell me you’ve been good.”

  “Define good!” she countermanded, closing the distance to finish the kiss, but he pulled back before their lips could connect.

  He tilted his hea
d and gave her a stern look. “Not attempting to kill anyone. Not insulting a man’s work. Not leaving him when he needs you most.”

  “Oh,” Tamara said, not liking the definition. “Does the kiss depend on my answer?”

  That elicited another chuckle. This time, his lips met hers in a sweet melding that quickly delved deeper into a soul-searing union that left her lightheaded. She wrapped her arms around his solid form and moaned her approval of his lovemaking.

  “Now you’ve had your kiss, answer my question,” he whispered, his breath brushing across her burning lips. “Have you been behaving yourself?”

  “No,” she answered and then amended quickly. “But I will, after I’ve killed Thyel.”

  She’d barely finished speaking when Jarrod disappeared, leaving her standing alone in the meadow.

  “No,” she cried out. “Don’t leave me.”

  NOT ALONE. The thought intruded on Tamara’s dream. Halla. She ignored the dragon and searched for Jarrod.

  COMPANY. The dragon popped into her dream world.

  Tamara pushed at Halla. Go away.

  She tried to walk off but Halla blocked her path with an extended claw. WAKE! WE HAVE COMPANY!

  Tamara stirred, feeling the aches and pains of lying curled in a tight ball against the dragon. She was still thoroughly soaked and shivering with cold. The dream, however, had cheered her. For a moment, Jarrod had been with her. He was still alive. She was certain of it.

  She lazily stretched her cramped left leg and it dropped. Pulse leaping in fright, she snatched her leg back and snapped open her eyes. The entire ordeal of arriving in Melak rushed back. Expecting to find herself in the dark, in the rain, she was astonished to be met by daylight, and an audience.

  She caught her breath at the scores of green beings hanging off, swinging on, or spread-eagled over nearby branches as they studied her from the surrounding trees. They were slender, with dense green fur that covered their heads and long tails with a scaly body in-between. Their pointed faces had beautiful wide expressive eyes.

  They’re like the green thing we saw on Ashari.