Descending a few feet, the lesser gusts along the canyon replaced the forceful southerly wind. Anticipating the shift this time, Lyra held tight with each step. Soon, she crawled into the crevice, too shallow to be a cave, but enough to cover them on three sides.
“There. At least we’re out of the wind here.” She tucked her skirt under her. “I’ll try an invisible fire for some warmth.” She extended the tips of her stiff fingers into the cold air, pointing at the granite floor between them and the opening. “Aduro palliata!” she stated firmly but quietly. Nothing happened. She rubbed her hands together and tried again. Slowly, the fire rose. “The cold makes it hard for me to use my hands to work magic.”
Although she saw no sign of life the whole day, a foreboding feeling guided her to be cautious. Kindling under a couple logs crackled, and then the entire campfire vanished. “Be careful since it’s now hidden by my magic. She tucked her hand back inside her cloak and pulled it closed. “Do you know anything about why the spell on my cloak isn’t working to keep me warm?”
“No. I’ve been pondering that question.” He lightly unfolded his wings to warm them by the fire. “How could the spell just break?”
“Don’t know. My magic works, so there’s no protective ward. Who set that spell?”
“Probably some sibyl in the Qumeli village. I worked a deal with one of their traders for some bespelled water-purifying pebbles I helped Master make.”
“It was working until I reached that ridge. Very curious. I don’t know the incantation to have it respond to my body temperature, but I think I can make it insulate better.” Lyra stroked the white cloth and hesitated. “Mixing mine with theirs, which is a different sort with lots of black magic, might have bad results.”
After warming her hand near the blaze, she waved it in the air toward the back of the enclosure, away from the fire, and softly commanded, “Creo amiculum magis caleo!” A lump of gray wool gabardine formed behind them. She lifted the garment and smiled when she noticed the thick fur lining and hood, just what she visualized during the incantation. “I chose gabardine for less weight, but this is still much bulkier with the fur. Wish I could repair the other.”
After changing, Lyra materialized and opened the inlaid box. She stored Kenzo’s gift and pulled out the sack of trail mix. “I wonder…since it may have some dark magic, if there’s a ward specifically for that type of magic.” She scattered a handful of food before her friend and then helped herself.
“Tarom is part of the Dark Realm. That doesn’t seem logical,” he snapped out an answer before pecking at the food with deliberation, nut and seeds first.
“Tarom might be on guard against Eburscon and his allies. Cullen told me Tarom is a loner, not really good or evil, but out for himself first.”
Kenzo raised a wary eyebrow. “A difficult one for us to read.” After chasing down the root chunks he earlier cast aside, he circled a couple times and settled into a ball behind the fire, his wide owl eyes still open. “I’ll keep watch.”
“No. Go to sleep. I have too much on my mind I want to think through first. When I’m sleepy, I’ll wake you and you can take a turn at watch.” Lyra examined the contents of their food supply and worried about how long it would last. She stored it away and tucked her body next to her friend, arranging a portion of the hem of the new cloak around his talons, which could easily freeze. She was grateful for his company.
Kenzo’s breathing soon slowed.
Against the inky sky, she watched the lambent tongues of the magical radiant heat rise from the invisible fire. She wondered if they could cross the treacherous terrain to reach Tarom’s retreat. Her body ached badly from today’s journey. The extreme cold hindered her ability to use magic requiring manual connections, like spellwork and healing. Those functions now required additional energy. Exhausted from crawling most of the day, she decided to see if simple rest would take care of or at least lessen her bruises. Spending energy on healing power would drain her so much she’d have nothing left for defense if attacked. With all these problems, the long trip seemed an impossibility. Even if they reached their destination, there was no guarantee she could convince Tarom to teach her fascination or if he’d be present in his retreat.
She didn’t expect her new quest to take months. She told her university chairman she’d be available online to teach an independent study class. That started in three weeks. It seemed unlikely she could meet that.
More importantly, time was running out to save Cullen. She sighed, wondering how she could still save him if Revelin had tricked her into breaking the jadestone’s bond. She still loved Cullen with all her heart. Was that enough?
Softly, Lyra stated the spell to produce the storage box again and withdrew her heliodor scrying stone from the inside. If only she’d stored her brooch and opal ring as well. The golden gem somehow caught the light of invisible flames. Deep within its translucence, a glow arose and channeled into a pinpoint of light at the surface. That prick of light erupted into a star, radiating across the cabochon. Then, an image formed, a jadestone—her jadestone. She recognized the swirling vines of the silver setting. The gem revealed a distorted human eye with a blue iris. The reflection organized into a distinct blue-gray eye, one Lyra had gazed into many times—Cullen’s. In the next instant, the vision altered and reformed as a black iris with silver glints. She jumped, almost dropping the heliodor. Revelin’s eye fixed upon her with determination. Could he see her now that he possessed her jadestone? She shuddered and shut the scrying stone back inside the box.
She hugged herself for a while. Elisabeth foretold Lyra to be the Scribe who would receive her destiny. From her present situation, that good fortune and happiness seemed remote.
Clinging to that shred of hope, she focused on her goals.
Beyond the heat lines of the fire, Lyra watched the stars slowly move across the sky as night progressed. Hamal coursed into view. Peeking from around the edge of a cloud, it sent a beam straight to Lyra. Its strength comforted her, as though the star watched over her. She nudged Kenzo until he seemed fully awake. After releasing her last worries to her birthmate star, she closed her eyes and allowed sleep to take her.
***
The noise of an animal shuffling woke Lyra. Opening one sleepy eye, she glanced over at Kenzo.
The tight ball of striped feathers snored softly.
A loud snuffling sounded at the open side of the recess.
Lyra’s head swiveled to face the noise, hand raised to hurl any attempt at a powerball she could muster.
An enormous snout of a dragon sniffed at her feet.
In one rapid motion, Lyra plastered herself against the stone wall behind her and pulled Kenzo alongside.
His eyes flew open, and he spread his wings to full span in a show of defense.
The huge head of the attacker blocked almost the entire opening to the crevice. A glow of starlight formed a silhouette and blinded Lyra from seeing much about the appearance of the dragon.
Not taking time to learn more, she discharged a powerball from her fingers. Awkwardly, it scattered into sparks over the beast’s nostrils.
Its pupils flared into an agitated red glow. Frost snorted from its nostrils, extinguishing the campfire directly in front of Lyra.
She screamed and chilling vapor rushed down her lungs.
Chapter Twenty-Six: Versula Solus, the Solitary Retreat
Lyra choked and water dripped from her eyes.
The dragon watched her, jaws opening. Suddenly it withdrew just beyond the entrance.
Kenzo wheezed and darted outside, flapping against its red eyes.
In the beam of Hamal’s light, Lyra saw the white dragon. Worse than an ice drake, it could breathe killing frost rather than freezing by contact.
Kenzo hovered too close to the dangerous snout.
The white batted the air around him, head spinning and looking in circles for something, like a person swatting unsuccessfully at a buzzing fly. Its white furred scales stood raised. Altho
ugh the dragon was small, only twenty-four feet, surely its skills outmatched a tiger owl’s.
Lyra raised a hand to try another powerball, but an icy stiffness spread along her arm. Her heart pounded in her chest.
Two other dragons charged into the airspace outside the enclosure, one gold and the other bronze. The gold was massive, three times the size of the opponent and nearly the size of the Imperial Dragon, but shaped differently. Strangely proportioned, the bronze beast’s wingspan exceeded the same measurement as its body length.
In a flash, the white darted straight up, above the heads of the other two. He turned and dove, his wide feet and abnormally long talons extended in a menacing descent.
“Kenzo! Come here!” Lyra yelled.
The white dragon missed the owl by only a yard, and he streaked to her side on the ledge.
The three dragons collided in a fierce battle, claws slashing. Killing frost-breath hung in clouds, which the other two deftly maneuvered around and scorched the white with their flames.
The gold struck hard, gnashing its teeth into the adversary’s flank. A dark stain spread over the side of the white.
A familiar snert caught Lyra’s attention. She focused on the bronze dragon, and her firing arm dropped limp to her side. “Yasqu!”
Hearing his name, he lost balance and fell into the line of fire from the white.
A guttural cry sounded deep from the throat of the gold. It pushed Yasqu out of the way and charged like a locomotive at the other, sending it crashing headfirst into the rock wall.
The white dragon lay limp on the granite, its neck twisted from impact, its hind limbs and tail dangling over the edge.
After the gold circled the body three times, it sailed up toward the summit of the ridge.
“Lyra, come.” Yasqu waved a fifty foot long wing upward before following his partner, probably for space to land.
She raised her eyebrows at Kenzo.
He shook his head and lifted into his usual protective hovering position nearby.
In haste, Lyra’s feet slipped and her cloak caught on brambles. With difficulty, she concentrated her attention on the trail rather than trying to see the dragons settling thirty feet above. She labored against the stiffness in her battered muscles. With exertion, the icy ache from her firing arm spread down her legs. She winced, flexing the limbs against the pain.
The gold stood tall, back to the wind, with Yasqu in front, protected.
Rough stems from the winter-killed scrub of a bush scraped Lyra’s bare skin as she pulled to the top. A sharp gust forced her off balance. She moaned when her already-bruised knees impacted the stone.
The smaller dragon reflexively lunged toward her, but was held back by the other’s strong tail wrapped around him, reminding, “Caution first, always.”
A spark shot from his nostrils, turning to look over his shoulder.
Lyra struggled to a half kneeling posture and rested her cheek against her raised knee. Compelling her numb fingers, she grabbed a fisthold of some brush and looked around for her companion.
Kenzo soared up to the level of the summit, only to be slapped down by a strong gust.
When he rose again, she called, “Don’t fly so high. Come here beside me.”
Using her as a windbreak, he edged onto the mangled bush she held and locked his talons. “You’re injured. Can you heal yourself?”
“Not here,” Lyra squeaked.
In response to Yasqu’s protests, the gold released him. In two long strides, the bronze dragon pulled Lyra and Kenzo against the smooth scales of his stomach. Limbs and tail embraced them.
Battling the pain in her arms and legs, Lyra hugged an armful of him, glad for the comfort of another friend. “I’ve missed you. Where did you go after the fight with the cimafa at Eburscon’s lab?”
“With Mother.”
She pulled back to see the head of the other dragon leaning over his shoulder, eyes wide and pupils a wary yellow, sparkling in the starlight. “Mother?” Lyra’s voice faltered.
The gold bowed her head. “I am honored to now have made acquaintance with two Scribes of Dragonspeir, both you and Brigid.”
Lyra’s lower jaw slackened. “You…you sent one of Cranewort’s giant cranes to me with the opal ring.”
When the dragon’s head rose, her irises showed a brilliant blue. “It was I. My name is Gea.”
Remembering her manners, Lyra dropped to a kneeling bow, still holding Yasqu’s leg for support. She flinched as the cold stiffness spread through the back of her neck.
Kenzo hopped a few times. “We need—“
Interrupting his request, the voice of the elder dragon rang clear and confident. “Rise, Lady Adalyra. You have long before bestowed respect to me by safeguarding my son outside this land. It is I who shall be forever beholden to you.”
“This exchange is quite nice, but Lyra is seriously injured. We must tend to her,” the owl called out in a louder, more urgent tone.
Lyra slowly stood, holding onto Yasqu. “My limbs and neck are getting stiff with an icy pain.”
Gea drew closer. “Frost poison from the white dragon. We must transport you into a protected area so you may concentrate your powers on healing. Can you climb onto my back or Yasqu’s?”
“No. Not in this wind.” She hugged her upper arms with her hands to retain heat and turned toward Kenzo. “Ride with them. I don’t want you to be swept away by a gust.”
Gea crouched on her thick hind legs and laid her forelimbs in front of her, palms open. “Lay across for me to carry you. My son, do the same for your owl friend.”
Lyra trembled from the ice in her body. She sat in the arms and reclined as they cradled her against the gold chest.
Kenzo did the same, gripping Yasqu’s coiled claw with his own talons, tiny in comparison.
With a single leap off the edge of the ridge, the tremendous gold soared. Her strong muscles worked hard, but steered through the fierce blasts. She paused once to look for her son, who labored until they descended into calmer winds.
They dove to the bottom of the ravine, where the dragons landed in the basin, hollowed out by a small river.
Gea released her hold on Lyra, but remained close. “Here you may safely work to heal yourself with our protection.”
The white dragon’s poison advanced through Lyra’s body. She could no longer move her legs. With difficulty, she lifted into a sitting position. She opened her palms, but couldn’t find the center of the affliction. It entered at her lungs yet affected her muscles. Applying her hands to her ribcage, she channeled layers of power through them into her core. As the healing began to work, she found strength to grasp deeper magic within herself.
A wave of dizziness swept over her and she fell onto her back. Instantly, the icy ache returned, creeping anew over her leg muscles. Lyra looked skyward for Hamal to gain extra power. Its beam broke over the crest of the ridge, allowing only a thin stream to reach her. “It’s no use. The poison is too strong and my star, Hamal, is behind the peak.”
Kenzo and Yasqu moved closer.
The golden dragon faced the star, reared high on her hind limbs, balancing with her strong tail. “I can assist. As part of my astral abilities, I can transmit the power of some stars. Hamal is one since Aries guided my birth also.” The irises of her eyes changed from blue to a mirrored surface. Then, she adjusted the angle of her head until the full beam of Hamal reflected directly onto Lyra.
Immediately strengthened, Lyra sat upright and began her healing. This time, she cycled through the deepest layers of her power all the way to her heart source, sending the magic to her lungs, then all other organs and her limbs. When she felt no trace of the chilling pain, she waited, monitoring for any renewed sensation. “I only feel a numbing cold on my skin, different than from the poison.”
Gea gave a loud sigh. “Lingering aftershocks of excessive chill, no different than exposure to this extreme weather. You are healed. We are fortunate. Most cannot self-heal so muc
h injury since the pain is limiting. Your extreme power compensates.”
With a smile, Lyra conjured another invisible fire and several blankets. “Is that water safe to drink?”
“Wise of you to raise a cloaked fire. To be certain, purify it first, although I have traveled this region many times and found no magical traps. It’s Tarom’s practice to maintain a ward to repel any acts of dark magic, or white if used against him.”
“Interesting. So if you approach him, you must come in peace. Like Cullen said, Tarom makes no alliances.”
“He does, but only after careful consideration.”
Lyra rose and enchanted a section where the water flowed without ice cover, an area large enough for the dragons to drink. She scooped up handfuls to quench her extreme thirst.
She returned to sit beside the blaze, content to enjoy feeling return to her extremities and watch the others drink. She smiled seeing Yasqu look like a gangly teenager, his wings too big for his body compared to the full form of his mother. They shared several characteristics. The most obvious was the tentacle whiskers along their lower jaw. Hers were long and silver, while his were fine fuzz. Two prominent horns pointed backwards along their heads, his just slightly more than stubs. Their wings connected to their bodies all the way to the tips of their tails, like huge sails. And, they both smelled of the same saffron body odor. It was clear Gea was his mother.
Lyra called over to them, “Gea, how are you able to travel into Versula when others can’t?”
“I am not aligned directly with either kingdom, the Alliance or the Dark Realm. I uphold ideals of the Imperial regime, but come and go from most lands freely. Few with intelligence beg a fight with a golden dragon.”
“You can go into Silva Nocens?”
“I choose not since he has convinced his minions to attack without regard for their own lives. I do not believe in such senseless loss.”
“He…the dark leader?”
“Yes, I’ve known him for centuries. He used to seek me out for counsel, before he followed unwise decisions that led him down a path of corruption, hungering for domination.”
Enchanted Bookstore Legends (5-book complete epic fantasy romance box set) Page 51