When Forces Rise

by Meagan Hurst

  “Niv, I am really not hungry,” she sighed.

  “You still haven’t regained your weight from before,” he pointed out. “And I have a feeling you even managed to lose some coming here. Immortality doesn’t mean you don’t have to eat.”

  “I am aware of that,” she muttered as he chuckled and rose.

  “I will go find something for you to eat. I may be caught up in a discussion depending on whether or not Dyslentio or Veilantras want to talk.”

  “Without me present, you mean?”

  “If they are foolish enough to think that trying to discuss things with me about you will go over well when you are not present, they are in for a rather large surprise. I may have mellowed, but I am still a Dragon, and I am not about to let Veilantras discuss your near explosion. I am also not going to let the Kryhista try to gain information about what he missed. Protecting you extends past just your body. It includes, Zimliya, your reputation and your mind. You do it for me,” he added with a smile as his eyes danced. “You did it for me just a few hours ago. Let me do the same for you.”

  She chuckled quietly as he left, knowing he knew when to back off. His words had shocked her because she still didn’t expect those words from him. It was another of the things about the Dragon she knew was there, but he rarely showed. He had, she was reminded, a few qualities like the Mithane, when he chose to show them. Z’s goal for Nivaradros was to allow him to show more of his personality rather than the hard exterior he had created to protect himself. He had a temper, and she liked it, but otherwise the Dragon had a laid-back personality that was more comparable to Veilantras’s than even his mentor suspected.

  While he was gone, Z turned her attention back to her plans for taking back Lyiastras. She didn’t want to leave anything up to chance. Midestol had showed her how he was going to play the game this time, and she wanted to be ready. She was obsessive in planning, but she could turn it off as needed. Thirty minutes after rechecking her latest plans, she changed courses and worked on planning a way to get Rameilas out of danger.

  Nivaradros returned a couple of hours later with a plate that was very properly set up. He was also carrying a cup of the Dragon version of alcohol. It had, Z knew, quite the kick. “That bad, huh?” she drawled as she stood and moved to accept the plate.

  Shaking his head, the Dragon offered her the cup as well. “No, not quite that bad,” he admitted. “But Wyenrtros showed up, and he would have preferred to see you. He asked quite a few questions about you.”

  “I didn’t hear any yelling…?”

  “Wyenrtros is reliable like that. When he realized I was making an effort to keep my temper contained while he was making things worse, he backed off. I think he may be on your side, though. He really, really wanted to see you, and my reluctance to fetch you bothered him.”

  That worried her—if Nivaradros had upset Wyenrtros what where the chances that the elder Dragon would help them in the upcoming meeting? “You could have summoned me.”

  “I could have,” Nivaradros agreed. “But he will see you tomorrow, and I was not about to back down.” He hesitated before smiling. “Veilantras backed my position.”

  Pleased to know Veilantras had finally been on Nivaradros’s side in front of another Dragon, Z relaxed a bit. Perhaps the elder Dragon would be more willing to support Nivaradros in front of the rest of the Dragon population, although she had always backed down in the past. Still, at least Wyenrtros would have something to think over tonight. Nivaradros unwillingness to cave would be a shock for the elder that Z hoped he analyzed the right way.

  “At least she finally did something right today,” Z observed, still stinging over Veilantras’s betrayal. Some part of her, perhaps her immortal side, seemed ready to forgive the Dragoness more readily than Z had expected she would.

  “Indeed.” Deep green eyes were amused. “But eat or it will get cold.” Nivaradros turned as though to leave, but before she could even speak, he paused and sighed “I have been summoned to a small…gathering of Dragons. It is not a council meeting and, according to Veilantras, it is a group of Dragons who may be willing to add their backing to our position tomorrow. They approached her to inquire on whether or not I would be willing to meet with them.”

  “But they want you alone.”

  “You are sharp. Sometimes I find that works to my disadvantage. Yes, Zimliya, they have requested I come alone. Which is of course a red flag—as the humans often say though I don’t understand why they say that.”

  “You still intend to go.”

  “We are lacking allies.”

  “Nivaradros…”

  “If I have to reveal my power I will. I am not about to allow them to kill me. It would be a rather large waste of all the hard work I put into you, and I have no intention of letting someone else try and change you or take my place. I’m a bit of a Dragon about that.”

  It wasn’t as reassuring as she would have preferred. Eyes holding his, Z surrendered because he was right, they did need more allies. “Your point,” she grimaced. “I see the side of the argument you are normally on. Letting you walk into a possible trap is hard to accept.”

  “Good. Next time you consider suicidal acts I expect you to remember this. I am going to presume Veilantras is not setting me up. If what I was told is correct, this will be the largest asset we could hope to obtain, having been offered little to build our support upon. I will be careful—far more careful than you are,” he added.

  “Thanks…”

  “Need I remind you that when you went after Shevieck you came back with half the damn plant?!”

  “That was one time.”

  “I can list—without effort—another two hundred. You jumped off, or fell off, a cliff in order to escape Midestol. Which is concerning enough, but that’s not the first time you’ve gone over a cliff and I’ve found you. I almost wish you had a fear of heights so you wouldn’t do things that drastic. I am positive those two instances were not the only ones.”

  Because he was correct she stayed silent. “Everything I do, I do for a reason,” she reminded him.

  “Indeed. Part of my job, however, is going to be to realign your thinking. But that will take time. Much like it will take you time to break me of habits you dislike—if you have managed to find one yet.”

  “I keep telling you I prefer you as you are. The problem is, you keep showing up with all sorts of history not even I know about, so I don’t really know what to expect from you anymore.”

  “And it concerns you?”

  “Now is probably not the best time to have this conversation.”

  “I disagree. It is the perfect time.”

  She had a feeling he had been spending too much time with the Mithane. “It concerns me because I feel blinded by the information being revealed. I know your dark secrets; why is that all I know?

  “Because the others need to be protected. The dark actions I took were almost a diversion. There are a lot of things you don’t know about me, yes, but although I know some of your past, there is still much I need to find out, and you are difficult to gain information from because you are either ashamed of it, or you do not feel it has any value. It’s vexing, but it is something to work on, and I like challenges.”

  She smiled and inclined her head. “Believe that I have noticed. Alright, go tempt death. I will wait here fretting until you return.”

  “You don’t fret.”

  “Are you certain?”

  The look of incredulity that passed across Nivaradros features as he struggled to decide whether she was being serious was priceless. In the end, he appeared to decide to leave her words alone and glared pointedly at the plate in her hands.

  “You are impossible when it comes to mothering me,” she growled.

  “Just wait until the Mithane believes he can stop holding back from fear of frightening you.”

  She was positive her features gained a look of utter horror. “Please don’t say that!” she pleaded.

&nb
sp; Nivaradros roared with laughter. “It will happen, Zimliya. He has been waiting for over a decade to gain your trust. In waiting he has been seeing many things that concerns him or wounds him. But he’s getting tired of waiting, Z. He’s upset you won’t let him any further in. Family cannot be such a frightening concept—surely?”

  “Need I remind you of the only two family members I have had consistent interactions with?”

  “Yes, well they are—were in the case of one—different than the typical family. Midestol is fond of you; you didn’t tell him you were related. And, well, he is a dark mage. What did you expect?”

  “I didn’t expect anything. Quite truthfully his excitement—and interest—was more concerning than his actions; those were predictable.”

  “The torture?”

  “The torture, the mind games, and interactions that I consider positive…those I understood. His desire not to win me to his side while still treating me like family wasn’t something I could have anticipated. It threw me for a loop”

  Nivaradros’s expression soured. “Explain that last thing please. It is a human saying, and it makes no sense in the course of the conversation.”

  Amused, she did as he requested and watched as his expression went from baffled to resigned. “I will never understand human sayings; Dragon sayings make much more sense.”

  “If you have wings,” Z muttered. “Or at least understand the fundamentals of flight.”

  “Which you do.”

  “Yes, but to the average human your sayings would make as little sense as ours make to you.”

  Nivaradros snorted. “Part of it would be the small brains they have—you don’t count.”

  “Thanks,” she laughed. “But go to your meeting!”

  “Not until you eat something. You are good at getting around it, but I’m not letting you get away with it tonight. You can play that game with the Shade. Eat.”

  Knowing he meant what he said, and knowing he needed to be somewhere else, she did eat some of what he had brought to her. Worry made the task even more difficult than normal; she didn’t trust the Dragons. Despite the fact she knew Nivaradros could survive she worried he would be forced to slay more of his kind and end up in deeper water—or rougher skies as the Dragon’s would say.

  Only when he was convinced she had eaten enough—he insisted she finish—did he move to leave. Kissing the top of her head, he brushed his fingers over her cheek. “If you get bored, feel free to harass Dyslentio—or take Shanii out for a ride. His antics while you are on his back should alarm most of the Dragons here, and they need to be shaken up a bit before tomorrow.”

  Chapter 12

  Nivaradros was gone for eight hours. Z found them torturous. She had no way of knowing if this was a trap, and despite the fact Nivaradros could take care of himself, she didn’t want his people to learn he was bound to mortal form. In the end she turned her attention to translations, retrieving three ancient texts she’d placed in her magical storage some time before. She’d been asked to translate them months prior, but she’d been unable to find the time.

  She was in the middle of translating one of them into its third and fourth language when Nivaradros returned. Her eyes weren’t drawn to him, but to the companion who arrived with him. Following him in, clearly nervous, was a younger female Dragon. Her vivid violet eyes were bright and glowing. She was shorter than Nivaradros—not that that was hard—and had a delicate build. Her hair was cut short and spiky, a style Z was not used to seeing in the immortals. And her hair was also bright blue. Knowing full well Dragons had control over a minor thing like hair color and tended to stick with more natural colors, Z decided she wanted to see this Dragon in her native form at some point.

  “Karlitras?” Z ventured after taking in the woman’s looks and her power.

  “You are very, very good. Nivaradros was right about you.” Karlitras laughed with delight and glanced at Nivaradros. “She seems to still be alive; I don’t know why you were worried about her.”

  “Give it time—you have barely met her,” Nivaradros muttered, but his eyes were dancing. “She wanted to meet you,” he explained to Z with an easy smile.

  “Decided to finish scaring the younger generation, have you?”

  “I was going for corruption.”

  Karlitras’s eyes darkened. “I feel like I have been cheated twice. I haven’t been off the Isle yet, and all I know about either of you is hearsay from the elders. I just gained my seat, and the Council has strict rules regarding the introduction of younger generations to the rest of the world.”

  “She’s been told I am a monster and you are an intelligent pet,” Nivaradros clarified.

  “You expected different?” Z glanced at Karlitras. “Why do you seek my presence?”

  “Nivaradros convinced me to lend him my support tomorrow, but I wanted to meet you as well. You don’t seem to be anything like you are portrayed. Is it true you destroyed part of the Hall?”

  “Indeed. I kept being informed humans had no talent in magic—or any other talent at all—and I decided to refute that popular opinion.”

  “Violently,” Nivaradros drawled. “I’d never been prouder of her. It was the first time I think any of the Dragons—other than myself—had seen what happens when Z gets backed into a corner.”

  Karlitras chucked and took a seat in a chair. “Do you mind that I’ve come to waste your time?”

  “Not at all,” Z assured her as left her work and moved to sit beside Nivaradros on the bed. “I’m sort of curious to find out why you wanted to come be with the human.”

  “Except that you’re immortal—I think that disqualifies the human part of that equation.” Karlitras was entirely relaxed and Z could tell she didn’t even suspect Nivaradros of being a danger to her. It was a relief. This had to be the first time Z had ever seen another Dragon who wasn’t Veilantras show this much confidence in Nivaradros. “Nivaradros said you’re a ruler?”

  Z turned to glare at Nivaradros. He offered her a careless shrug. “What? You are. You’re also an heiress, and technically the ruler of two other kingdoms, once you gain them back.”

  “What else did he decide to reveal?” Z asked of their guest as she turned back to face her.

  Karlitras smiled, but shook her head. “It doesn’t matter at the present. I was rather hopeful you would be willing to explain your relationship with Nivaradros—from start to finish—and why you’ve always been okay with him. I know he’s tried to kill you in the past, but even though you’ve slain twelve of my kind, he remains alive. And now, you’re like this.” Karlitras gestured at the two of them.

  Z inclined her head in agreement. “He’s…different than he’s portrayed. He only was the Warlord because your people made him out to be something dark and dangerous. He decided it was easier to be the Warlord than to try and fight it. But when I met him, I could see why Veilantras was fond of him—for all that he was trying to kill me.”

  Pressed for more information, Z reluctantly began to explain how things had started with Nivaradros. She was brutally honest about her weakness and made sure to point out everything the Dragon had had to put up with in the beginning. She stressed Nivaradros’s aid when she had called him to skirmishes and battles, as well as making sure the battles Nivaradros had spontaneously helped with were known.

  She hesitated when she spoke of his aid during the first time she had been severely wounded. She had thrown herself over a cliff to avoid being captured and she had ended up in Nivaradros’s lands. She tried to downplay the extensiveness of her wounds, but Nivaradros was happy to clarify. And to complain about how much of a pain in the ass she had been. Elbowing him hard in the ribs, Z leaned against him comfortably as the three of them continued to talk for several hours. Z found she enjoyed Karlitras. Karlitras only had seven centuries behind her, but she was already making her own decisions and it was apparent that whatever Nivaradros had told her had made an impact.

  Eventually, Karlitras stood. “I shou
ld probably get going,” she admitted unhappily. “But if we all survive tomorrow—Z, may I visit your kingdoms?”

  The question caught Z off guard. “Uh, I technically hold only one, but you are more than welcome to come visit if you would like,” she assured the Dragoness. Deep down she was relieved at the thought of another Dragon being around Nivaradros on occasion. Speaking with one of his own kind was something Nivaradros probably missed after being surrounded by the “inferior” races for so long.

  “I’ll make sure you keep your promise,” Karlitras warned before leaving.

  Z waited until she was certain Karlitras was gone before speaking. “The meeting went well?”

  “It went very well,” Nivaradros agreed in a satisfied voice. He stood up and walked around the room. “We should have a minimum of seven Dragons who are willing to speak out to afford me more time, if the others are willing.”

  “A minimum of seven? Just how many did you meet up with?”

  “Seven, but they have decided on a course of action that may or may not bring us more allies. I personally hope it does because I am certain we will require them.” Nivaradros’s eyes flashed with a hint of the Warlord and Z wondered just what he had put in motion.

  She decided she didn’t want to know. Instead she regarded him with concern. “How bad is it going to be?”

  “Based on the fact I was attacked no less than fifteen times on the way to and from the meeting, I’d say both of us will be rather…spirited when this begins. Using colorful words and dangerous spells.”

  “Someone’s going to end up dying,” Z muttered.

  “If it’s only one I’ll consider it a miracle. Because I delayed this interaction there has ample time for everyone to scheme and plan ways for me to meet my demise while on the Isle. Thankfully, most of them will be easy enough to get out of, but not all of them will be, and I worry for Dyslentio’s safety.”

  “Since he’s technically food?”

  “That doesn’t help.” Nivaradros sighed and opened the palm of his hand to reveal shadow. “It’s been a while since we’ve worked on this—I noticed you put up a shield; very nice, by the way—and I thought it might help us remember not to use this element if we are at our breaking point.”