by A. Wrighton
Alaister smiled and poked Callon’s ribs. “Rough night?”
“I hate all of you. I get it, all right? It’s hilarious. Ha. Ha.”
“You have no idea,” Lanthar mumbled.
“Yes, well at least I seemed to have the greatest experience here out of all of us. You bedded a mere two to my what…five?”
Callon’s jibe succeeded in making Lanthar scowl. The large blond knit his brow and leaned back into his chair in his normal stance. Lanthar had never been one for competition, and whenever approached by it, he shut down. Lanthar scowled and picked at the food left on his plate.
Alaister shrugged away the familiar stand-off between his Commanders and sighed. “Is that all?” he asked smiling.
Callon glared.
Unsatisfied, Alaister reached for Callon’s toast and chomped loudly smacking his lips. “I could have sworn you told Kal you had six,” he said between chewing.
Callon pulled out his hand and began counting on his fingers. He paused at five, recounted again, and then shrugged. “I don’t know… ask her your damn self.” Callon squinted into the sunlit room long enough to scan its occupants. “Where is Kaly, anyhow?”
They all froze.
Alaister rose and looked around for any sign of the deep flaxen hair. He heard Callon scoff but could not bear to see the accompanying look. Alaister always knew where she was. It was his duty as her protector. And now, for all his observant fortitude he had failed to even notice that she was not there. She was always there, somewhere nearby, unseen but present and within reach. Except for now.
The panic spread across Alaister’s face. It was the one emotion he had never been able to lock away and hide. Alaister looked to Lanthar, who shook his head cluelessly. Callon clearly did not know either.
Teeth clenched, he surveyed his men with his jaw locked onto his disbelief and failure. “Anyone seen Kal?” Alaister did not wait for the replies. He wrenched free from the table and started for the stairs. “Lanthar, the lower level?” Alaister asked.
Lanthar nodded, already standing and starting his search. Alaister took the flight of stairs two steps at a time. He turned the corner and ran down the hall to Kalyna’s door. His fingers rested against the cold hard wood.
He knocked.
No answer.
He knocked again.
“Kal?”
Alaister swallowed the taunting creeping sense of failure. He had taken an oath – a simple oath at that. Keep her safe.
“Kal!”
The silence burned his ears.
“Listener forgive me,” he whispered before breaking through the door and pushing into her room.
Alaister scanned the plain walls. Her sheets were undisturbed and the comforter was missing. A dark green dress draped over the bedside chair with Kalyna’s leather shoes beside it. Her satchel remained nestled under the chair.
Kalyna was missing.
He ran a hand along where she should have slept. The linens were cold. He knelt and rested a cheek on the fabric. Slowly, he drew in a deep breath. He could smell the earthy floral scent that permeated anything Kalyna touched, but it was weak and growing fainter – she had not been there in a long while.
A breeze rustled through the linens, scattering her dying scent about the room. Alaister jerked up and looked at the window.
Open.
Alaister exhaled a shaky breath and looked straight out the window before hesitantly glancing down the three stories to the ground. He sighed and leaned against the pale wood frame. There was nothing at the bottom. He let the breeze swish through his hair before straightening and returning to the room. As he turned, he smelled her scent again. It freshly kissed the breeze that swirled around the curtains. As the soft wind died, he heard it. A gentle sigh – barely audible, but present.
Pausing, he searched his memory. Kalyna had mentioned she learned best from the branches of the Mravgoth trees, and she did have a habit of showing up where she did not quite belong. With a thin smile, he stuck his head out the window again and stilled his breath. She was there somewhere – her sighs sweet and soft – dreaming.
Alaister propelled himself out the window and stretched along the thatching until he reached the flat part of the roof. He only had to take two steps before he saw her, curled up in the lace comforter, flaxen waves fanned out around her as the morning sun danced across her cheeks.
His first instinct was to shake her – to shake some sense of logic or safety into her stubborn skull. But she was too beautiful at that moment – beautiful in her unusual way. To find Kalyna in such a serene state of existence – of silence – extinguished what anger he had. Alaister instead wanted to preserve her peacefulness – protect it always. He knelt and watched the sun rise across her fair face. He would have stayed until morning’s light woke her had it not been for the thundering of boots beneath them.
Alaister hid a smile of appreciative loyalty and as quickly as he had found her, he departed sliding down the roof and leaning through the open window, as Lanthar burst through the doorframe. Alaister waved him off silently, emotionless. If Lanthar knew why Alaister did so, only his celadon gaze conceded awareness. With a nod, Lanthar and the rest of the men retreated to their breakfasts and Callon’s annoyance.
Scaling back up the roof, Alaister made his way beside Kalyna and sat down, arms around his bent knees. From alongside her, he realized just how exposed she was in her sleep. Completely exposed. Vulnerable. She would be an easy picking for any Dragon, let alone any Dragonic. Anger swept over his softened form and tunneled his vision onto her still figure.
The audacity to sleep in the open while being hunted was absurd. It was idiotic and careless. She had a purpose and she was going to have to realize that sooner rather than later, and preferably while she had life in her body. His mind seared with the possibilities of disaster until the sound of familiar crooning stopped him.
“I’ll be damned to Udlast,” Alaister whispered, his gaze resting on the eaves above Kalyna. There on the spire of the inn, lurking in slumber Jaxin was perched in all his savage orange and red glory. Alaister stifled an irritated laugh. How the Beast managed to stay upright on the small eave defied logic. It did not look possible, but his Beast did it all the same. From the sounds of Jaxin’s easy breathing and cooing, it had to have been more comfortable than it looked.
Alaister picked up a broken ceramic tile from underneath the thatching and hurled it at his Beast. Jaxin’s eyes flashed open as he cocked his head, scowling at his Rider. A slither of white smoke appeared from his nostrils and Jaxin uncurled his tail, stretching the barbed point with displeasure. The Beast looked from the Kalyna to his Rider and back again before stretching his wings, flexing his white talons against the bricks and mortar, and taking flight.
He tracked Jaxin until he vanished into the hot white of the sun. Blinking, he turned back to Kalyna. She was not still nor was she awake. Kalyna tossed in the midst of a nightmarish fit, her legs scrambling under the lace comforter, her lips moving. She was voiceless at first, but her nightmarish pleas grew to a soft murmur. Alaister leaned closer to her to hear her cries.
“Don’t leave me. Please, don’t leave me here alone…”
Alaister frowned and rose to a kneeling position. He placed his hands on shoulders that seemed too frail beneath his massive palms and squeezed. Kalyna stirred, but not from the nightmare. She tossed more under his touch, panic in her voice.
“You promised! You can’t leave… please! Gods, please don’t leave!”
Kalyna sprang up as her voice rang through the morning air and echoed against the foothills. Her forehead smacked Alaister’s hard enough to draw a grimace from him. She winced at his presence before throwing her arms around his neck and pulling their bodies close to each other. Alaister froze, the unrestricted contact was untouchable, yet welcoming. Only after he gathered his wits and balance did he return her embrace and wrap his arms around Kalyna in a gentle hug.
Alaister felt her shiver and brea
the against and through him. He looked Kalyna in the eyes and stayed her panic with a gentle smile. He slowed his breath and she mimicked his forced calm obediently. He smiled and nodded.
It took only moments until Kalyna was herself again, the same glinting hint of playfulness and passion dancing in her copper eyes. Kalyna quickly took to finger combing her hair and ignored the situation she found herself in. Alaister stood, and for a moment considered coaxing the nightmare’s truths from her. His curiosity ached. It burned. The sun’s rays warmed his back and steeled his heart against it. There were more pressing matters to address.
“Why did you come out here? It’s dangerous. Stupid.”
“I am fine. Jaxin—”
“Is a Dragon, Kalyna. He has needs and desires. He is not your nursemaid.”
Alaister winced at his harshness but pressed on with his lecture. He had to make Kalyna see that so much more was at stake than she realized. “He hasn’t fed in a while Kal…” His voice trailed off as he adjusted his leather vest and belt before extending a hand to Kalyna.
She did not accept.
“I know that. It’s not like I had asked him, even if I had wanted to I couldn’t. He did it himself.”
Alaister stared deep into the copper eyes. The possibility of a Dragon choosing to protect a human, not a Rider but a human, was illogical and laughable. It made no sense, but then, he realized none of the other Beasts’ attachments to Kalyna made much sense either. Something inside assured Alaister that had Jaxin not voluntarily guarded her, another Dragonic Beast would have. It was another something he would never find the meaning to – not even in his father’s logs.
Alaister stared at Jaxin’s abandoned perch and scoffed. In the end, it did not matter why or how the Beasts reacted the way they did. It mattered that Kalyna had flagrantly disregarded her situation and safety and showed no sign of ever changing her perception of the matter. Dangerous and stupid was still dangerous and stupid, regardless the voyeurs.
“Why are you up here in the first place?”
Her cheeks flushed a brilliant shade of cherry. “Honestly?”
He nodded.
“If I heard one more pair going at it like wild animals, I was going to go crazy. Between the moaning and thumping on the walls, I couldn’t find a moment’s rest.”
Kalyna rose without his assistance and as quickly as she had been beside him, she returned to her room through the window. Her nimbleness unnerved and Alaister found himself staring at her once he had landed back inside her room.
“What?” she asked sensing his nerves.
He fidgeted with his vest lacing and then looked up. “Breakfast is downstairs. If you hurry you might be able to catch Callon’s Udlastian hangover still at its peak.”
Her smile stung. “I’ll be right down.”
As Kalyna reached the bottom stair to the Common Room, she noticed the men’s stance about the table. They were talking in hushed whispers, a peculiarity in itself, and without looking up from their meals. She crept closer to hear their conversation without drawing too much attention. Vylain spoke earnestly and with a tonal authority, he mustered whenever Alaister was absent or uninvolved.
“Word around Dylle is that there might be a real heir to the Alerian throne still alive...hiding.”
Gage shook his head. “Like that’d matter. The Council—”
“Will be destroyed – by us. And when it is, we can find this long lost heir and he can rule his kingdom, and the others can go back to ruling their own kingdoms – exactly as prophesied.” Vylain paused for a long while, as if to think through his own words. He stared at his tavi and then at Gage, who quickly nodded an encouragement.
“And if he’s as bad as the Chancellor and his Council?” Lanthar offered.
Gage shrugged. “Couldn’t be. No one can be.”
Callon stirred from his hidden position beside Lanthar’s mass. He stretched out of his hunched posture and cracked his neck. “Enough talk of politics – it’s doing nothing for my head.”
“Your best option, Callon, is to not speak at all then,” Vylain said.
“Har, har, Brydellan. So... about last night...”
“Oh Listener save us, here he goes…”
“Callon, must you always recount your conquests?” Lanthar asked.
“What? Some people like Vylain here can only live vicariously through me, and who am I to deny them such pleasure?”
Alaister scoffed, joining the noise of the officer’s conversation for the first time. From his distant gaze and unsure attentions, Kalyna realized his mind was already on the morning’s tasks and flight plan. She watched him eat, methodically and purposefully, and stare through his men as they clamored and bickered.
“So I asked this wench what she could do for me and she goes, ‘I will do to you whatever you can imagine, so long as you—’”
The floorboard beneath Kalyna creaked and Lanthar’s celadon eyes were on her. She waved sheepishly. Lanthar nodded his hello and slapped Callon on the back, nodding towards Kalyna. With all the men’s eyes on her, Kalyna felt smaller and took to pulling and fidgeting with her green dress. She cast a nervous look to Alaister who smiled and gestured to the seat beside him, across from Callon.
She nodded, making her way as quietly as she could to her seat. Kalyna paused at Callon. Leaning in alongside him, she smiled deviously. “Morning Callon!” She yelled.
“Bretz! Really, Kaly?” Callon rubbed his heads and hid his ears. He pointed to Alaister who quickly denied the accusation Callon’s finger pushed against him. “Bad form, you two. Bad form. Payback’s one Udlastian mistress, Alaister Paine.”
“I do so look forward to meeting her,” Alaister said.
Kalyna laughed as she munched on some frillic berries and sipped her tavi. She enjoyed watching the men do anything as a group because none seemed completely in control, despite their need or want for it. Not even Alaister, who spaced so easily that Kalyna was quite convinced Callon could have started a duel with Vylain without Alaister noticing or stopping their spat.
But, this morning was not the usual bickering between the officers – their minds met in ways to annoy and grate on Callon’s aching head and limbs. Kalyna failed to resist a smile as she watched the men graciously grind their knives against their plates and slop their mouths full of food. Finally, Callon stood to snipe, climaxed to annoyance, but froze when boots stomped into the room with resounding authority.
It was DeLorne, one of the lead Scouts. He rushed to Alaister’s side, slighted terror and eager adrenaline flushed across his face. “Commander – incoming Dragonics.”
“How long?”
“Twenty if they stay their speed.”
Alaister nodded and rose. “Brothers, stay close and find the sky. We move on.”
There was a loud clattering and scraping of chairs, dishes, and boots as everyone stood at once. Lanthar stopped Kalyna and nodded towards the door.
“I’ll grab your satchel with my pack.”
“I’ll be by Blythet then.”
He nodded and left her to scramble amongst the men. Kalyna ducked and dodged around quick-moving boots as she made her way towards the door. None of the patrons gave them much mind, though she knew there was no way they did not hear Alaister’s barely cloaked command. It warmed her that somewhere in all of Solera, it was still safe to believe in freedom – to believe in the Rogues.
Halfway through the lobby Kalyna froze, a quick curse slipping from her lips. She had left her book on the roof. She bounded and pushed through the Rogues to the stairs. She started to call out for Lanthar but noticed the blond giant nervously looking about the landing of the stairs above.
He had stopped. Lanthar never stopped. He was calculated. Organized. Precise. But, he had stopped to check his pack. It made no sense until she realized that he had to have lost something. The Lanthar she knew did not lose anything. Kalyna bit her lip as Lanthar felt for something along the seam of his pack. His fingers froze when he met her eyes
. For an instant, he did not move. Then, his fingers felt again until they stopped feeling about.
Lanthar shrugged. “Thought I lost my sidearm.”
Kalyna pursed her lips and smiled. “I must be rubbing off on you then… I left a book on the ceiling. I’ll—”
“I’ll get it. Just go wait by Blythet.”
With a pivot and a stride, Lanthar was gone and Kalyna found herself alone in the deserted inn under the unconcerned eyes of mountain travelers.
MYRAL RIDGE
SOUTHERN SOLERAN MOUNTAINS, SOLASTI
Kalyna heard Alaister bark the halt command to Jaxin up ahead. Jaxin hovered waiting for Blythet to catch up. The great orange Beast stared after Blythet in an attempt to synchronize their wing beats. Blythet quickened her pace until all four wings flapped in a sonic unison of wind and muscle. Alaister’s baritone voice pierced the rush of wing-beaten air. Where a normal man would be panicked and nervous, Alaister was calm. Unyielding. Kalyna could feel Lanthar’s tenseness ease once Alaister passed on his command. His voice was edgy - dark. There was a deep-seeded hatred to his words.
“Set down on those cliffs. Kal can hide in there. We’re done running.”
“Aye, sir.”
Kalyna balked and leaned out from behind Lanthar. “Alaister, please…” She knew he heard, despite having turned Jaxin in a banking maneuver.
He looked back wordless. For a fleeting heartbeat, his eyes were sad but they grew stern and cold. Inhuman. Dragonic. “Stay inside the caves, Kal. Don’t move. Don’t speak. No matter what you hear or see, you will stay out of sight or everything we have done is for nothing.”
“You are not my Keeper, Alaister Paine. I will—”
“I am your Keeper.” Alaister looked over Kalyna to Lanthar. “Go.”
Before Kalyna could gather other reasons, Lanthar banked Blythet to the right and dove for the caves. Kalyna’s protest caught in her throat and instead of fighting against the force, she buried her face in Lanthar’s leather-covered back for protection from the stinging cold. When Blythet stopped, Lanthar dismounted and eased Kalyna down. She accepted his help dejectedly, scornfully. They all treated her like a child, their plaything. Kalyna glowered. She belonged to no one but herself.