by Rain Oxford
“Impressive.”
“I know. I’m so smart.”
“I meant the boots.”
“I know. I meant me.”
“You have been spending way too much time with my brother.” To change the subject, I gently took Kalyn’s arm. “I’ll be ready very soon, I just want to talk to Kalyn for a moment alone.”
Thaddeus muttered something that made both Mason and Merlin laugh. I was positive I didn’t want to hear it.
In the hallway, I detached the plastic sack from my belt. “I saw these on one of the worlds I was on and they made me think... of you… I mean, I thought you might like them.”
She studied the plastic. “It’s very pretty,” she said genuinely, poking the box gently through the clear material.
“No… you can have the plastic, too, but your gifts are inside.”
She found the opening and pulled out the boxes. Holding them in one hand, she carefully folded the plastic as if it were a treasured shirt, and put it in her pocket. I took the smaller box so that she could open the larger one and she gasped when she saw the rose. “That’s…”
“I know it’s weird for me to get you anything. I mean, we were enemies a year ago, but…”
She shook her head and put her hand over my mouth. After a moment, she looked up at me from the box and said, “It’s not weird.” Her voice was slightly different, as if she had trouble speaking. “If you apologize, I’ll hit you. I love it. I love roses, but I hate that the moment I pick it, it dies. This one never will. Thank you.”
Then she kissed me. This time, it was longer than either of the previous ones. When she pulled away, there was some hesitation in her eyes. “What’s wrong?” I was certain I didn’t screw up; I hadn’t done anything at all.
“It’s not you. It’s Sven.”
“Gross.” That killed my mood in an instant.
She sighed. “That came out wrong. I don’t want to ever feel under someone else’s control again. I don’t think I can trust anything I feel… ever again. I know you don’t understand.”
I laughed. “I don’t? I was under the raven’s curse when we met. I yelled at Merlin. I had been slowly losing control over myself. Merlin was the one who made me see it, and even then I couldn’t fight it.”
She thought about it for a while before nodding and reaching for the other box. When I pulled it away, she frowned at me.
“I think I should save this one in case I ever upset you.”
“How could you upset me?”
“I’ve been told, on occasion, that I can be stubborn.”
She smirked. “That’s not always a bad thing. And you think that whatever is in that box will make me forgive you?”
“I know it will.”
She laughed. “In that case, you better not get hurt at the Rynorm house. I want you to come back safe and give me that box.”
“Nothing is going to happen. I’ll be there and back before you know it.”
Chapter 15
We appeared in a small valley between two mountains. There were huge boulders rather than trees sprinkled randomly across the field. In front of us was my grandmother’s home. It was made of thick logs and had a large covered front porch. Windows on either side of the door were completely black. It did not look big enough to house eight adult men along with the head of the family, but it was larger on the inside.
The Rynorm family was unusual in that all of the sons stayed near the home to help with the dragons instead of living far away with their wives and children. Kalika was a cluster of islands, so the sons could live nearby while also giving their wives the space they needed from Shaerl Rynorm. Although she was kind to me, it was only because I was a Sjau. None of her sons’ wives were good enough in her opinion, and she could be extremely domineering. My father was the exception; his wife was so vile that he was sent away, despite the fact that Shaerl had forced him to marry her in the first place.
“I might not have told you everything you need to know about my family,” I said to Yuri.
“I know how sorcerer families work.”
“I doubt you know how this one does.”
A scuffle behind us made us turn to see my oldest uncle, Malaki. He wasn’t one of the largest men I’d ever seen, but his posture warned of danger. His rust-colored eyes were a stark contrast to his short black hair.
I was more concerned with the scene unfolding behind him. He glanced at each of our faces before heading past us towards the house. “I’d warn you not to bring strangers to the Rynorm home, Ayden, but if you’re anything like your father, you aren’t even listening to me at this moment.”
“What? Did you say something? Why are a unicorn and a dragon playing in your yard?”
The dragon was young, standing no taller than me, with dark blue scales and light blue eyes. He had small horns on his head and a spike on the end of his tale. The unicorn was pure white with a silver mane, silver hooves, and pearlescent horn. He wasn’t as large as the only other unicorn I knew, which gave me the impression that he was an adolescent.
“What did you expect them to do? Fight?”
“No… but there’s a unicorn at the home of sorcerers. Why?”
“Unicorns dislike sorcerers, but not as much as they dislike dying out. After your team saved Caldaca from the black star and your mother, a lot of magical creatures are afraid. Every single one of them dropped a notch in the food chain.”
“Why?” We followed him into the house.
We entered into a massive living area with arched ceilings and heavy wooden support beams. Everything was made of sturdy wood and metal. A candle chandelier hung high, covered in dust from neglect. Instead, a walk-in fireplace crackled lively on the east wall. Above the fireplace were rows of paintings, each with one or more members of the Rynorm family.
Two large, durable couches and three chairs faced each other around the fireplace. On the northern wall was a door and a massive table. A staircase to the right of the front door lead to a balcony and more doors.
“Because dragons are regaining their numbers every day. Whatever you did, and I don’t want to know what it was, you saved the species. Since the black star vanished, at least three female dragons have hatched a day.”
“Female dragons?”
“It stands to reason that when we defeated Baltezore, we broke his curse,” Merlin explained.
“Okay, that makes sense. But why are so many females hatching?”
“Because dragon eggs are neutral gender before they hatch, so they can be hatched male or female depending on necessity,” Merlin explained out loud.
“Oh, you can talk now,” Malaki said. “Good on you.” He sat at the dining room table, where two other Rynorm sons sat, each reading books. I wasn’t sure if I’d met them or not, since the Rynorm sons all looked extremely similar.
A cold draft was the only warning before my father stepped into the room through the doorway on the opposite wall. Although he was the youngest Rynorm son, wasn’t as muscular as a warrior, and was technically the runt, he was stronger than a sorcerer needed to be. His hair was black and short, adding to the severity of his face. His jaw was angular and closely shaven. What people noticed first was his eyes, which changed colors with his mood. They were a coppery rust color at the moment.
“I did not give you the Rynorm name for you to bring your problems to us,” he said by way of greeting. He might have been the one person in my family who wouldn’t smother me in my sleep, but he was definitely a sorcerer. He was also someone people naturally knew not to talk back to.
“I haven’t brought my problems to you. I brought you a dragon egg. I figured you’d be pleased.”
He barely glanced at the egg. “Not hardly. We can’t take that egg.”
“Why not?”
“I’m not sure. Ask it.”
“It’s an egg. It can’t talk. Even if it hatched, I thought hatchlings can’t talk.”
“You aren’t getting any faster at learning, are you?”<
br />
“Didn’t you say Zeustrum was your smart son?” one of his brothers asked him.
“Yes,” my father answered easily. “But Ayden defeated all of his brothers, so that makes him my best son.”
“Thank you? Why can’t you take the egg?”
“I already told you,” my father said helpfully.
“What he is implying is that the egg doesn’t want to stay with us,” Malaki explained.
“How can you tell?”
“When you spend your entire life around dragons, you learn to sense their desires.”
“Like when they want to eat you. It helps to detect that before they actually attempt it,” one of my uncles said. My father and Malaki nodded their agreement.
“Well, what does the egg want?”
Both my father and Malaki tilted their heads as they studied it. Finally, my father shrugged. “It’s pretty content where it is now.”
“It wants to hatch,” Malaki argued.
“It’s not that keen.”
Malaki rolled his eyes. “You are just like Father. Put it in the fire then. If it hatches, I’m right, and you have to give me your gold Greska grimoire.”
“Fine. If it doesn’t hatch, I’m right, and I get to sell your first born.”
“Fine, but not until she has the baby.”
“No, you don’t get to add contingencies! You either bet or you don’t.”
Malaki stared at the egg again. “I’m out.”
“Fool. Of course it wants to hatch. I just wanted to watch you back out of a deal.”
“Go back to your wife and leave us alone.”
“I’ll go back to your wife. She deserves a treat for putting up with you.”
“Can we get back to the egg issue?” I asked.
“What issue? Hatch it or take it with you. It makes no difference to us,” Malaki said.
I took the egg from Yuri and set it on the table. “We have stuff to do. I like dragons, but I’m not a dragon trainer and I’m not doing another dragon-related quest for at least a month. If it has a problem being here, it can take it up with you when it hatches. Goodbye.” Yuri tried to grab the egg, but I held him back.
Malaki laughed. “He’s got his mother in him, too. No one can stand up to a Rynorm like a Dracre.”
“I’m not a Dracre and I have no mother.”
“And no one can hate a Dracre like another Dracre,” my father said.
“I am not leaving my egg here,” Yuri insisted.
“Just to protect it so that we can go defend your castle.”
“The egg wants to stay with me.”
Before I could respond, the egg rolled off the table. I shouted and tried to grab it, but I was too slow. It hit the wood floor and rolled past me. There was no visible damage whatsoever. Yuri tried to grab it, but it dodged him. “What’s happening?” I asked.
“It really wants to hatch,” Malaki answered.
The egg rolled across the living room and into the fire. “Okay, that’s obvious.” Almost immediately, it started hatching. “It’s an impatient little one.”
Two tiny dragon paws reached out of the egg and pushed the edge of the eggshell away. “That is so cute that I’m going to be sick,” I said.
Yuri was the one who crouched by the fire, though. He easily reached into the flames and helped the dragon peel the eggshell off. He didn’t say a word, but he did smile when the deep red head popped up.
“Congratulations, it’s a girl,” Malaki said.
Yuri jerked his hand back and clutched his head in pain. I had no idea how to help. When I tried to go to him, my father put his hand on my shoulder to stop me. I knew if I struggled, his grip would become painful.
“Are the voices hurting you again?” Merlin asked.
“I see… I’m seeing something I don’t understand. There’s a hole in the sky and a cave that’s lit with liquid fire. You’re there, and Ayden, I think, or me. I can’t tell. It’s blurry and it hurts.”
“The hatchling is trying to tell you something. You need to let her do it.”
“It hurts!”
“I know. She knows that and she is not doing it to hurt you. She is doing it because you need to know. Listen to her.”
“What if she hurts him accidentally?” I asked. The hatchling was squirming out of her shell, clearly exhausted by her efforts. Of course, she was probably tired from rolling herself off the table and into the fire.
“Don’t interfere,” Malaki warned. “None of us know what is happening. This is something new.”
“Switch with me,” Merlin said. “I can help him.”
I nodded, undressed, and sat across from him. Merlin wasted no time and because he was in such a hurry, the spell went quickly. It was also more painful. When it was done, I was panting and achy. Merlin dressed in my robe and got to work on helping Yuri immediately.
Yuri, who hadn’t witnessed the shift, asked Merlin who he was, while still clutching his head in pain. The hatchling had made it out of her shell by then and was flexing her tiny, underdeveloped wings. As she did, her pristine scales seemed to turn from rich red to deep purple, and then to brilliant blue in the light. Ascelin had been right; she was gorgeous.
I didn’t see any sign of horns. If a dragon could look feminine, she would be the example of it. Even newly-hatched, she moved with uncoordinated elegance, which was a strange phenomenon. She was slender and it looked like her wings would be narrow when they were fully developed. The hatchling scampered to the prince and hopped onto his chest.
Merlin put his hand on Yuri’s head, which the hatchling did not approve of; she snapped at him and, when that didn’t scare him off, she exhaled an adorable puff of smoke.
“Settle down,” Merlin said gently. “I am trying to help him.”
She reluctantly let him help and focused her attention on staring at Yuri. When Merlin put his hand on Yuri’s head again, his gold eyes glowed a moment before he closed them. Soon, Yuri stopped cradling his head and relaxed a little.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Hush, young sorcerer. We will discuss it later.”
Yuri flinched a few times, but otherwise remained motionless, as if asleep. Soon, Malaki and my father lost interest, and insisted I leave Merlin and Yuri alone. They showed me to a room. It was nowhere near as fancy as my room at Magnus’s castle or Yuri’s, but I preferred it. Like Sebsan’s inn, it was designed to be functional, not lavish. It contained two sturdy beds with dark blue bedclothes, a chest, and a writing table. There wasn’t anything personal in it because it was meant for Shaerl’s visiting grandchildren or step-daughters, and Shaerl made it quite clear they were not welcome to stay long enough to unpack any possessions.
I wondered if being a Sjau warranted me an extended welcome in addition to the special treatment I already received, but I never bothered to ask, both because I didn’t believe it did and also because I didn’t really want to stay.
Soon, Merlin brought in Yuri, who was conscious, but only barely. Yuri got into one of the beds and the dragoness curled up on his chest. Merlin and I returned to the dining table. As we ate, surrounded by four of the Rynorm sons and Kalage, Shaerl’s husband, Merlin explained.
The voices Yuri had been hearing were mostly the dragon’s. He had not been able to understand them because she had not learned to speak to him gently. In a way, it was similar to how Merlin and I talked in each other’s heads, and that was intentional. He had also been hearing through the dragoness’s ears before she had hatched, so the other voices were of people who spoke around the egg. Only once she hatched could she explain everything that he was and why.
When Merlin and I were in the volcanoes with Baltezore, the special dragoness had been watching us. After she absorbed the power of the ancient, she knew that more dragonesses would be born, and because people have not changed their ways, the hatchlings would be hunted.
She came up with the plan to create dragon guardians. Yuri was only one of them, but he was the f
irst one to find his dragon. This was an experiment; if it worked well, more would be created.
These dragon guardians were chosen from those in the cusp of death and given immortality so long as their dragons were safe. They were each bonded to an un-hatched dragon that would fit the best with them. To encourage them to find their dragon, they were temporarily stripped of all power except their immortality so that they could focus on listening to the dragon’s call. Once their dragon hatched, they gained back their magic. They could also share magic and speak telepathically with their bonded dragon.
She had seen how well Merlin and I worked together and based the bond between the dragon and guardian on us. Hearing this made me a little sick, because that was a lot more pressure than I was prepared for.
Of course, all this was explained to Yuri through visual messages rather than words, since the hatchling was still learning to communicate herself.
“We can train the new dragon guardians to raise and care for their dragons,” Kalage volunteered. “Shaerl will welcome them.”
“Where is she, anyway?” Merlin asked.
“We woke up this morning to find every adolescent and adult dragon leaving, only saying that they were not fond of snow.”
“This is summer.”
“Yes, it is. Shaerl is trying to find out what is actually going on with them. Even the youths and hatchlings are acting strange.”
“Did the dragoness say anything about why Yuri and I are identical?” I asked. “Is it because of our bond? Are there a dozen other immortals out there who look like me?”
“What a frightening thought.”
I rolled my eyes. “I was hoping one of the dragons could tell us, since they always know everything, but if they’re gone…”
“Is there a seer on Kalika, by any chance?” Merlin asked.
“With dragons here, there’s hardly a point,” Malaki said, “but Lodeki’s wife is one of the most powerful seers there is.” He pointed to my second oldest uncle.
Lodeki nodded. “She only comes home to see the dragons. I would get more attention if I had married my bed. At least it’s there to come home to at night. She and the dragons have private meetings. She so powerful that she can’t even function when she has a vision.”