“There is one additional window in the archival stacks on the third floor. It faces a different direction, but I’m not sure how true to west it is.” He pointed to the stacks behind the study tables. “Use the stairwell beyond the last row of shelves.”
Faber wasted no time. He stored his tools and the watch into his satchel and wound quickly up the open iron staircase.
After the room quieted, the Tortoise tipped his chin to one side and asked, “Lyra, how did you know to use the compass to signal the location of a potential amulet?”
“Since Heilia was a seer, I thought a directional device from her might be able to answer my question, especially if Kessa—”
“It fills me with gladness that my little kinchin could help tell about those items,” Nillea interrupted, filling the talking space with rapid speech. “I could have done the same, but she enjoys the box of treasures so. Consider them yours in exchange for her keep. If we’ve served the task, Kessa and I got plenty of chores to be doing back in the kitchen. Please, if you will kindly pardon us to take leave now.” She clasped her daughter’s shoulders and steered her toward the door.
The Tortoise didn’t have time to bow before Nillea yanked on the door handle. The leader rose quickly to offer assistance but arrived too late.
She already slipped herself and Kessa through a small crack.
Lyra joined the others at seats around the tables. She wondered about the woman’s nervous behavior, hurrying off when Lyra hinted at Kessa’s abilities. What reason could Nillea have for hiding her daughter’s magical talents? Or was the mother just stressed, like everyone, with the dangers of war, wanting to protect her disabled child?
Cullen rearranged himself with annoyance on the floor cushion and tapped on the shaft of his wizard’s staff. His knee rested against Lyra’s.
Despite that, she felt restless and didn’t connect with his thoughts. Her heart went out to the crippled child. If Kessa possessed a seer’s magic, whether weak or strong, it could be encouraged to give her purpose and self-confidence, a chance for a happy life despite her physical limitation. Lyra fought an urge to rush off to the kitchen and talk with Nillea in private while Faber worked on her amulet.
That’s an admirable idea. But, you can help the girl after you save the Alliance, Cullen mentally reminded her.
I wish I had time to start now. After another minute passed without any communication from the gemmator, Lyra’s tension pushed her to her feet.
Footsteps clanked against the metal stair treads. “Done!” Faber called down to them.
Lyra exhaled a long breath, wishing she could be in two places at once.
When he stood before them, he continued. “That window served fine for my purposes. As requested, I stored the metalwork with a one-quarter, three-quarters ratio of fire to air power. Then I rearranged the directions of the metal inclusions to make its delivery of those powers constant. And I refastened the length of chain into a necklace for our Scribe to wear it as a pendant.” He handed the pocket watch to the Imperial Dragon and bowed low. “For your inspection, Head Guardian.”
The Imperial Dragon gently clasped his mighty claw around the small timepiece. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when they reopened, his irises glinted with a new color—green.
The gemmator let out a sigh.
“As you indicated, this does contain air and fire strengths. It should do well to stabilize the powers of our Scribe and thereby protect her health.” He smiled and passed the watch to Cullen. “Sire Drake, I understand your concern for her well-being. Please check my analysis.”
Cullen moved the watch to his right hand bearing the bloodswear ring upon his index finger. He repeated the same procedure as the leader but also activated his ring with a slight twist. His blue aura spread from its blue topaz jeweled dragon eyes, surrounded the amulet, then receded. “I concur. The design is as intended. I’ll remain present while Lyra conducts a test of its efficacy.” He bowed his head to the leader. “If all goes as expected, I’ll return to battle immediately after.” He placed the chain around Lyra’s neck. “How do you feel?”
She moved to her seat at the work table laid with the texts. “Better. More balanced and more in control of my body.” She opened Elisabeth’s Book of Dragonspeir with a smile. “I’m ready to try this.”
Cullen and Mimio took positions on either side of her, while the Tortoise found a cushion across from them.
“I need to learn how the ruby affected the Black Dragon and how Elisabeth and Garrett escaped.” Lyra looked at Cullen. “Learning from their experience will make ours easier.” She opened to a marked page. “Like I’ve done before,” she directed the Imperial Dragon and Cullen, “I’ll include as much hidden meaning as possible while I read, but some doesn’t become apparent to me until the end of a scene.”
My skirt wadded under my knees as I crawled, until it limited my forward movement. Unable to look away from the ruby, I struggled with one hand to tear the fabric. It would not give way, so I pushed myself into a squat. Even with that slight change in height, my head throbbed with the increased internal pressure in my vessels.
The ruby urged—no, commanded—me onward. I heard a desperate moan in the background, but the voice sounded so far away that I couldn’t concern myself with the helpless creature. Matters of greater importance offered me more rewards.
My head adjusted to the change in pressure. I noticed the red light’s sensation on the skin of my face and hands grow so pleasurable, I opened the top placket of my tunic and wrenched the fabric back to expose my neck and upper chest. I managed to work the fitted sleeves only to the height above my elbows. In a frenzy of rage with the tight sleeves, I lifted my skirt, separating the junction of my undergarment and stockings to let my knees feel the wondrous heat. It penetrated with a warmth beyond the comfort of summer sun rays, reaching deep inside my muscles, enlivening the vessels and nerves. Basking this way, a delicious euphoria energized my entire being. I craved more.
The ruby channeled its message to me, a promise I found no reason to mistrust. It whispered on light beams that what I felt at that distance was only a beginning. If I accepted it as my own and gave it protection, it would make me invincible. Energy beyond my imagination would course throughout my body.
Slowly, I rose to a hunched and twisted standing posture, my limbs only partially under my control, and stepped toward the gem. Its brilliance masked my view of everything else, which didn’t concern me because nothing else held any importance. I raised my hand to touch the great Emtori Ruby. Its fire crackled through a jagged bolt and connected with my palm. I couldn’t gauge the distance between me and the gem or command my legs to move, but those matters presented no worries. I trusted the thread of light to guide me.
The ruby took control and contracted my muscles, propelling me along the red filament. The keystone’s power surging through my veins grew steadily stronger. Its energy pulsed against my outstretched hand. We were almost one. It pulled my arm closer. The air crackled and hissed, sparks flying in all directions. My skin touched the surface of the stone, which was surprisingly cool. The power it promised me was real, flooding into my heart, mind, and limbs. I stood tall, and my aura beamed a yard around me, a vivid crimson.
Red beams shot everywhere, excepting one direction on the far side of the stone. There, an immense shadow consumed all light. The black void expanded taller and wider, looming overhead. A gas permeated the air, burning my lungs with a putrid odor. A dark-scaled, skeletal claw reached out of that pervasive darkness. In one swift motion, the talons caged the ruby and whisked it off the pedestal.
Separated from my life force, I stood motionless.
“This Emtori Ruby is mine!” a deep voice thundered from the shadows. “I heard it call your name—Elisabeth. It should bond to no one but me, the leader of the Dark Realm.” The massive head of the Black Dragon surged above me. “You must die!” Bony eye sockets sunk deep into a skull covered with patchy, rotted flesh. Two large horn
s curved forward and down, ending on either side of his snout. Slime drooled from his menacing grin, then he expelled a rain of searing acid regurgitation over me.
“Lyra, why don’t you take a break now?” Cullen’s voice tugged Lyra’s concentration away from the reading. His hand on her arm pulled her back to reality. He moved her hand to grasp the pocket watch dangling against her breastbone.
She took several deep breaths. “I’m fine. I’m still extremely agitated. My heart is racing, but I don’t feel like I’m losing control.”
While she spoke, both Mimio and Cullen set to work touching skin over her organs.
After several minutes, the sorceress relaxed. “I didn’t find much. Only a slightly elevated heartbeat and pulse.”
“Best of all, no abnormal firings in the nervous tissues of the brain and spine,” Cullen added, wrapping an arm around Lyra’s shoulder.
“Then the amulet is working,” Lyra said with a smile that shook a bit at the corners.
“Wonderful news!” the Imperial Dragon exclaimed.
The Tortoise waggled his skinny tail—a sight that made Lyra’s eyes crinkle and her smile feel more natural. “Please continue reading. My heart is pounding also. I want to know how the pair survived.”
Lyra nodded and refocused on the book.
My exposed skin burned on contact, and I coughed uncontrollably.
The evil leader waved a fiery claw above him, with my former captor imprisoned inside.
The Emtori Ruby no longer called to me, seemingly satisfied to be owned by another. A deep, disabling betrayal sliced my heart, like being jilted by a fickle lover. My head ached as though it would burst, but at least it did register my own thoughts again.
Panic shot through me. In the keystone’s red haze, I turned to see Garrett in a heap on the floor near the doorway of the chamber.
The bear-asp leaned against the wall behind him.
Lingering strength from the ruby yet flowed through me. Lacing that energy with a thrust of adrenaline, I hurled a wild powerball at the beast. It slumped, and I ran to Garrett. Scarcely able to manage the extraordinary strength, I pushed myself under his side and balanced most of his weight awkwardly on my right shoulder.
He weakly moved his legs, and together we passed through the archway into the dark corridor. We half-ran, half-tripped along the uneven stone floor.
The Black Dragon pursued. He projected his acidic spew wildly, often missing us entirely. His poor aim led me to surmise that his vision must have been disabled by the ruby, much as mine had been. The gem did enable his sanguine aura to spread an enormous distance. If he had been the size of the Imperial Dragon, his aura would have encompassed the entire breadth of the tunnel. Thankfully, the dark leader was of much smaller stature, leaving the hollowed crevices along the jagged walls in dark safety.
My strength from the ruby ebbed, and I struggled under Garrett’s weight. The acidic air burned my eyes. With blurred vision, I set my sights on what I guessed was one extremely dark fissure ahead and pressed our bodies into it. I covered my mouth to muffle my own coughs as best I could.
“Use what’s left of the ruby’s energy to heal my shoulder,” Garrett murmured into my ear.
Knowing my waning energy would not help him to reach a safe exit, I wedged a hand under his hooded surcoat, closer to the wound. I waited until the best moment, when the Black Dragon just passed by and would be even less able to notice our actions. I focused on a single thought—healing. Instinctively, my own golden aura, still tinged red from the ruby, flowed from my hand into his shoulder.
Seconds later, his white aura briefly surrounded us both, then extinguished. I’m mended well enough. Our auras are now cloaked. We must leave as we entered, following the hiding places, he whispered, although his words registered in my mind and not my ears. I wondered if that was some odd effect which lingered from my connection to the ruby.
Lyra looked up from the book. She placed a hand around her amulet and let out a loud sigh. “That is how she did it. The ruby’s strength remained for a while, enough to help them with a getaway.”
The Tortoise shifted on his cushion. “From what meanings you felt behind the words, do you think Elisabeth would have gained enough power to accomplish those supernatural feats if she’d stopped earlier? If she hadn’t actually touched the ruby?”
“I wondered that exact thing,” Mimio said.
Lyra leaned forward and rested on one elbow. “No. The power she gained from touching the keystone gave a sharp jolt which she didn’t describe in the text. There was a huge transfer of power with their contact.”
“Their contact? I’m confused,” said the Imperial Dragon. “Do you mean the Scribe and the ruby or Sire Garrett?” asked the Imperial Dragon.
“Oh! The hidden magic seems so natural in my mind, I forgot to explain. The ruby behaved, at least in Elisabeth’s mind, like a person with feelings, needs, and desires.”
“Yes,” Cullen said. “Before, you mentioned she called it her mother, replacing the one she lost as a young girl.”
“This time it seemed more like a lover, maybe competing with Garrett.” Lyra let go of the amulet and sat taller.
Cullen placed a hand over hers. “Well, I think we’ve learned a lot about how to handle that keystone and, more importantly, you stayed unharmed.” He rose from the table and faced the Imperial Dragon. “With this assurance, I need to get back to my duties. I’ve lost track of time. When will the next squadron leave? I’ll ride whichever guard is willing.”
“It should be soon. Allow me to consult the guard at the door.” He passed through the door and immediately reentered with the bronze dragon, Yasqu.
“We’ve held up departure waiting for you both,” the younger dragon said, glancing around the room.
“Then we need to leave at once.” The leader’s head turned sharply back to him. “Are you joining this squadron?”
Lyra’s eyebrows rose. She swallowed hard, wishing he didn’t have to join the fighting. He was still so young and inexperienced.
“I am. If the Head Guardian will allow it,” the bronze replied. After his experience fighting during their quest in Terza, Yasqu seemed to carry himself taller. His muscles rippled, anxious to use what he’d learned.
The leader paused, studying Yasqu’s face. “I don’t know.”
“I’m fully trained now and have met several real battles with Scribe Lyra. I can’t stay behind any longer. I need to serve our people.”
The Imperial Dragon nodded. “I do understand. Very well…as long as you are in a squadron with either myself or Yord in command, I grant my permission.”
Yasqu lifted his chest high and shot Lyra a grin that melted her heart, reminding her of when he was a hatchling she’d raised not so long ago.
Cullen leaned down and gave Lyra a quick kiss on the cheek. “We both have jobs to do. Let us both stay safe.”
She beamed and hugged his shoulders. Please check on Kenzo and Noba for me. I miss them.
Could you use their help in any way?
Yes. Kenzo has a good head for details. And he can help with my other project—Kessa.
He shot her a warm smile. Snooping—one of his favorite jobs!
“Call to me with our jadestones if you need me.” She released her embrace.
He nodded and swept through the doorway, followed closely by the two dragons.
Moments later, Lyra watched through the windows as two squadrons sailed out from the lair’s landing.
The Head Guardian led one, and Cullen sat on Yord who led the other. She sighed, thankful he rode her special blue friend. Of all the senior dragons, he was the most agile while carrying a rider. She touched the jadestone brooch on her collar, feeling the vibrations of Cullen’s love. She watched the two groups separate before she resumed her own duties.
Chapter Nine: The First Matans
Lyra settled onto her usual cushion and pulled documents from around the table. “You said you had a copy of Elisabeth’s bloo
dswear quest handy,” she called to the Tortoise who moved among the shelves. “I can’t find it and would like to read more about her experiences with the Emtori Ruby keystone.”
“Yes. I have it here,” his voice called to her from deep in the stacks. He lumbered out and a leather-bound journal sailed just above his nose. It landed on the table in front of Lyra.
“Thanks. I remember the basics of her second quest from what we read in entries made by the Imperial Dragon of that era. She was expected to find out more about the characteristics of the gem. She went to the underground world of Terza, since the gem had been mined there.”
“Indeed. Elisabeth was set to a task of claiming the ruby for the Alliance. If lives were in danger, she was to destroy it. The gem was not only mined, but cut in Terza,” he added, standing beside where Lyra sat.
Mimio quietly joined next to him.
“Well, that is exactly what I need to be able to do, so I’ll get started reading.” Lyra opened the cover and skimmed the opening few chapters. “Hmm. I could have used much of this information before Cullen and I headed down into Terza. But, there really wasn’t any time with that pestilence killing so many so fast.” She turned through a couple more chapters. “Here. I’ll begin where the couple is bartering with Kon. Amazing! He told me he met with her, but I didn’t believe he was really that old. It says he worked as a Malificate lapidist back then.”
“You met someone who talked with Elisabeth?” The Tortoise’s eyes grew huge. “Can you journey there again and learn from him what you need to know?”
Lyra shook her head. “No. He’s not alive. He seemed to have gone mad after losing his social position. The matans the Malificates used for power were killed by the Vizards. He saw Noba, who we learned is a matan, and went crazy trying to possess our little pseudodragon. After threatening our lives, he died as we protected ourselves.” She stared absently across the room. “I’ve wished many times it hadn’t turned out that way, and now I have another reason to feel regret.”
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