“Ava….”
“But I promised I’d take care of you. And I will. I’ll get there. And I won’t hurt you in the process.”
He squeezed her hand. “Ava, I know you. I know you couldn’t care less about yourself, despite what others think. I picked you for a reason. And I picked well.”
She nodded, and let go of his hand before it made the lump in her throat anymore real. He didn’t know. He didn’t know it was all her fault. Because reason told her that he had never really picked her. It was her desire to connect with someone—incredible strength of her will—that had drawn him to her. And in that way, it was almost like she’d forced him to want her.
Everyone who said she would be the end of him was right. Even though she tried, she knew she’d be called back to ownworld. It was only a matter of how much pain she could hold inside. It was only a matter of how strong she could be. But can I keep from hatching? From becoming a phoenix—one who can’t be tamed.
She submerged her sinking thoughts as they dived, following the glow that came from Neeraj—a silvery, bluish light that only blue dragons could give off. He led them into the cave and they rushed for the air, all breaking the surface and gasping once they were in the cave. Rane clambered atop Shiloh’s head, his black eyes wide.
Neeraj had to change to his first form before he could speak, abandoning his smooth scales for brown skin once again. “I am lost from this point. I cannot find a way in.”
“I’ll take it from here,” Ava said. “No one resist me, or it’ll be harder. I’m going to move you.”
Neeraj, head bobbing above the water, interjected. “That is impossible.”
“Not for me, Neeraj. Now if you’d kindly shut your trap so I can concentrate. Please.”
She closed her eyes, trusting those around her to watch her back. She summoned all the will she could, and it surged through her chest cavity. Around them, the brilliant flashes of gold, the proof of a phoenix changing the way things were, forcing her will to have its way.
“A phoenix,” Neeraj said. He looked as if he wanted to reach out and touch her. “A real phoenix.”
“Quiet,” Cale said, swallowing a bit of sea water in the process. “Let her concentrate.”
And Ava decided to stop fighting the pain that riddled her bones and scalded her skin. She let it do as it pleased. Because, even though it hurt, it gave her the power to change what couldn’t be changed.
***
The cavern bustled with life. The clicking of keyboards, the echo of footsteps, and the hushed mumbling of blue tongue bouncing off the cave walls. The lights were dim—torches instead of fluorescent bulbs— and the wooden furniture was crude, as if carved by unskilled hands.
The room fell subject to silence as every head turned to the no-ir who stood before them. Their nearly expressionless faces remained so, but Cale could see how they paled, how their pupils dilated in fear. They stepped away, and each one found a place against the cave wall. It was a defensive posture, one that posed no threat. They were saying with their body language, ‘do whatever you like. We will not try to stop you.’
Shiloh took the lead, his soggy footsteps bellowing, his dripping cape leaving behind sloshes of water. Cale and Ava stood close, Cale learning as much as he could while he looked around the opening of the monastery. One of the faces, a narrow-nosed boy with rather long, dark hair pulled back into a ponytail, no older than Cameron, averted his eyes, just for a moment.
“That one,” Cale said.
Ava was unimaginable. She was almost on fire, around her a swirl of white and gold, as though the particles of her soul were alive. She pointed at the blue dragon monk.
“You. Come here.” Her will flurried about her, and the blue dragon stepped away from the wall and toward the group of five. Ava didn’t know she could do that. Didn’t know she could will someone to do as she asked. And she didn’t know how much it would hurt, how bright the curse of the phoenix would burn beneath her skin.
Myra’s eyes became threatening. “Let’s pull his teeth until he talks.”
A flicker of intimidation in Ponytail’s eyes before they returned to the cold, calculated stare so many blue dragons wore.
“No,” Ava said. “Let Cale talk to him.”
The boy kept darting his eyes to the black dragon rider who had Rane perched on his shoulder. He was, no doubt, trying to figure out why the no-ir had come. And what they could possibly want with him.
Cale cleared his throat to get the boy’s attention. “We’re looking for a friend of mine.”
The boy’s eyes remained unemotive, save for the hint of fear that kept them slightly wide. “You really don’t need to be hostile. If you found this place, it is because you were meant to. Unless, somehow, you have broken our rule.”
“Last name Anders, first name Cameron.”
“Oh.” The boy straightened his shoulders a little, blinking at last. “Anders? He’s not available at this time. Perhaps—”
Shiloh stepped out then, and simply reached forward and grabbed the blue dragon’s arm. The boy screamed and snatched it back, clutching the burnt flesh. Shiloh’s ungloved hand left seared fingermarks on the boy’s splotchy skin.
“He asked not to be disturbed.” The boy wanted to run. His brain quickly attempted to calculate whether he should bother trying to escape the fearsome ensemble.
“Take us to him,” Ava said, looking him in the eye.
The dragon gasped as he turned towards the cave without wanting to. “How are you doing that?” he asked even as he led the five past the rest of the staring blue dragons and further into the monastery.
“You are not a dragon, but I have never in all my studies learned of a human commanding the way you do. Are you part siren? No, you would not be accompanying red dragons and you did not need to sing to influence me—”
“Shut up, for God’s sake,” Ava began to say.
But Myra interrupted her. “Let him think,” she said, her heeled boots making her sway as she walked. Her hands in her jean pockets, she shook her head. “It’s their way. It would be like me telling you not to breathe.”
The blue dragon began again. “I am actually not so surprised that Anders has such interesting friends. I have never met a mind like his. He is a glorious thinker. And his intuition startles me.” The blue dragon babbled as he led them through a torch lit corridor, the rough cave walls damp and dark. “We are very fortunate to have him on our side. Let the academy suffer without him, for all I care.”
Our side? Cale stared at the back of the boy’s head. He’d never met such a talkative blue dragon before. All of them—from Declan to Neeraj to Karma—they always seemed so somber, more keen to observe than to comment. Cale pondered the talker’s words. Since when did the monastery choose sides? They hated each other, but the academy always seemed more aggressive towards the idea of the monks. Cale never thought that it might go both ways.
“May I ask you a question?” Myra picked up her pace so she could see the blue face to face, without straining. “Will you share your name?”
“Ewan.” His light blue eyes—blue dragon eyes—scanned her, from top to bottom, and then flicked away. “May I ask yours?”
“Myra.”
“Are we conversing, Myra?”
“Yes, let’s continue.”
“Good. You are very attractive to me. I would like to mate with you. Sans reproduction, of course.”
Ava’s mouth flopped open, and Cale had to stifle a giggle. Blue dragon relations were not handled with the same couth as those of humans. Even red dragons, with their fiery sex drives, were not so blunt.
Myra handled it with surprising grace. “I’m exclusive with someone, Ewan. Thank you for your invitation, but I decline. However, we may still converse, if you’d like.”
Ewan nodded.
“So…you’re not holding our friend hostage? And he’s not dead?” Myra asked him.
Ewan blushed, and blue spread to his cheeks. His ponytail, which
reached almost to his waist, swished as he shook his head. “Hostage? We do not keep hostages in monasteries. And we certainly don’t kill our monks. We are not barbar—” his words died on his tongues. He had not meant to say that, not with red dragons present, though their race had a reputation as being hostile, loud, uncouth, and violent without reason or provocation. Barbarian was a derogatory name that blues often called reds.
“I’m not offended, Ewan. Just worried about Cameron.”
“I will try to steal him away from his work for you.” He glanced at her as they turned another corner. “You are remarkably well versed in blue mannerisms. Are all of your friends equally educated?”
Myra looked at the lot who followed quietly behind them. Ava, with her golden glow and constant scowl. Cale with his inquisitive, wandering eyes and loose, athletic gait. Shiloh’s stern steps, his little dragon as still as a statue on his shoulder. Neeraj, who was only staring without saying a word, his clothes tattered and filthy.
“They’re learning. With the exception of Neeraj of course.” There was a twinkle in her brown eyes that most never got to see. Myra, who rarely smiled, was happy. “As for me, I had a very good teacher.”
Another blue dragon, this time with a buzzed haircut and an olive green sweater, frowned as the group rounded a corner. Ewan stepped forward and spoke with him using the hushed, smooth tones of the blue tongue. They didn’t move their hands when they spoke, like most reds and humans did. Instead, they made eye contact, projecting only their voices and interpreting each other’s facial cues.
Neeraj looked sideways at Cale. “So you really do speak our tongue? It’s possible for a red to learn?”
Cale concentrated, his core translating what he heard. “They’re arguing. Ewan wants to let us in, the other boy says it’s unwise.” He shook his head. “I missed that last part.”
Myra leaned in. “They say Cameron wouldn’t be happy about being interrupted. Especially by a bunch of…”
Neeraj’s eyes widened. “You know what they’re saying as well?”
“Cale’s not the only one who speaks blue tongue in our herd.”
“This Cameron…he taught you?”
Myra shook her blonde tresses. Her hair was already drying, somehow just as straight as ever. “You can’t teach a tongue.”
Neeraj thought about that. “Then two of you must be very close. One day, I hope to know every race so well as to speak every tongue.”
Cale interrupted with a groan. “I just can’t stand it. The talking and the weighing options. I feel like all these blue dragons do is talk and think and talk some more. I have to do something.”
Ava grinned at him. “Shall we?”
“I agree that waiting is tiresome,” Shiloh said. “Rane does as well. There are more innocents dying at the hands of my brother no-ir as we sit here. Let us go. I believe the phoenix shall lead us in?”
Cale put a hand on the small of Ava’s back. “Not you, rothai. You’ve worked hard enough today.”
She resented being told she should rest. But Cale was right. Finding their way to the monastery by using her will had taken a toll on her. And it certainly helped that the warmth of his hand felt so good against her back.
Cale nodded his head toward the blues arguing by the door. “Hey! We’re going to need you to move.”
“It seems they plan to enter by force,” the other blue said to Ewan. “Typical.” He faced the group. “Then we will have to reciprocate with greater force.”
Ewan shook his head. “There is a great no-ir with them. And they have a phoenix. We should let them in, Gregory.”
Rane left Shiloh’s shoulder and spread his wings. He grew ten times the size, filling the narrow hallway, his obsidian hide knocking many of the torches from their places.
Cale moved forward, his fists clenched. “Move.”
But the door behind the blues creaked open. Deep blue eyes set in a cold, chiseled face peered out. “There’s too much noise—” He straightened up, opened the door all the way, scanning the chaos and trying to sort it. “What…?”
“Cameron?” Cale unclenched his fists.
Ewan turned to Cameron and spoke in blue tongue. “They forced me.”
“I’m sure they did.”
“You keep unsavory friends, Dr. Anders,” Gregory said, his voice flat and unappealing.
Cameron looked over the ensemble. “Friends?” he stepped out of the room. “You think these people are my friends?”
Rane shrunk and fluttered back over to his rider. Cameron approached Shiloh first and lowered his eyes in respect. “No-ir.”
Shiloh bowed his head to him. It was the most basic and classic of no-ir introduction. No touching. No eye contact. Cameron had studied enough to know at least that much.
Cameron stepped up to Myra, everyone watching in silence, and slid his hand over her waist, pulling her closer to him so their bodies touched. He whispered something to her in blue tongue, and she leaned in, put her arms over her shoulder. She whispered back to him in red, and he almost smiled. Before he pulled away, he kissed her, his lips lingering on hers as both pairs of eyes closed. It wasn’t what everyone expected. There was no giggling, no jumping into each other’s arms. But it was richer and more honest than they would ever understand.
“Doctor,” Gregory said, his eyes wide with disapproval.
Cameron ignored his colleague, moving his hand up to the base of Myra’s neck as he breathed in her kiss. When they finally did separate, it was only barely. Cameron turned and stood behind her, draping an arm over her midsection. It was still natural for the two of them after months of being apart. They were both relaxed, both at ease in each other’s arms.
Still ignoring Gregory, Cameron addressed Cale. “May I ask why you were trying to break down my lab door? Myra says you received news I was deceased.”
Cale nodded, his muscles already relaxing at the sight of his brother. “We got a letter. It seemed official.”
“Yet, you came here and found me, though I cannot deduce how you managed it. Why would you do that if you believed me to be dead?”
“Hey, I said we got a letter. I never said we believed it.”
Cameron nodded, a hint of a grin on his usually solemn face. “Well, I’m fine, as you can see. And it isn’t my colleagues’ faults that I have foregone communications. I have been…busy.”
“Well, you scared us all to death,” Cale said, crossing his arms. “You could have let us known you wouldn’t be answering our messages. And the death letter was a bit much.”
But Cameron had already stopped listening to his brother. His eyes wandered over to Ava who was quietly standing behind her dragon, watching the unusual interaction.
“Hello, Ava.”
She looked a little surprised. “Oh…hey Cameron.”
“Did you really force Ewan to bring you down here?”
“Yeah. Is that going to be a problem?”
Still holding Myra, he returned to his natural expressionless state. “Not at all. Contrarily, it is quite interesting to me. Perhaps you will allow me to interview you further.” He finally moved his arm away and walked towards his lab, but he took Myra’s hand in his as he did so. “Ewan and Gregory, my guests will need food and water and a place to rest. Tomorrow, we’ll figure everything out.”
Gregory turned eyes of steel to them. “Are we prepping them for experimentation, Doctor?”
Cameron nearly seized at that, but his flash of temper didn’t show to most. “We do not experiment on living things here, Gregory. But if we’re polite, they may answer some questions for us after they rest.” He locked eyes with his intern, challenging him. “Now…food and water, before I have you demoted.”
Gregory said not another word as he hurried out of the hallway, Ewan smirking behind him.
“They’re so…emotive,” Cale said, puzzled as he watched them go. “Especially Ewan.”
“You’re used to Karma and myself, I suppose.”
Cale frowne
d. “Not all blues are as serious as you?”
“There is no one like Cameron. Period.” The voice came from a gorgeously tall blonde, her hair cut pixie-short, her cheekbones flawlessly pronounced. “You must be guests of his.” Her light blue eyes took everyone in. “Quite an assortment.” She bowed to Shiloh, “No-ir.”
He nodded his response.
The blue dragon girl turned her head and approached Ava, her brow furrowed in observation. “There is a shimmering hue to this one.” She poked Ava with the end of her pencil. “Hmmm…may I ask you a question or two?”
Ava snatched the pencil and snapped it in two with only the clenching of her fist. “You may back up out of my face.”
The girl straightened up, a blue tint to her cheeks as she blushed. “I apologize. You are simply so intriguing, I had to ask for an examination.” And she tried to touch the tip of one of Ava’s curls.
Ava smacked her hand away, and glared at Cameron. “Get a hold of your girl, Cam.”
Cameron sighed. “Brie, Ava would not like to be touched. You’re offending her.”
“Oh….” Brie tucked her hands into her lab coat, but leaned forward so that her face was only inches from Ava’s crossed arms. “That glow is remarkable. She can’t possibly be human, unless she’s been exposed to some sort of radiation….”
Cameron let go of Myra’s hand to catch Brie by the shoulder. “She also does not want to be breathed on. Look at her from over here.” And he moved her across the lab.
Ava glared at the girl, then turned to Cameron. “Why didn’t you answer any of our messages?”
“I can’t say.” He changed the subject, pointing to the blue dragon boy they’d brought with them. “Who is that?”
“Oh,” Cale shrugged. “This is Neeraj. He’s been helping us.”
“And you trust him? Enough to bring him here?”
Cale studied the boy, his small shoulders and piercing blue eyes buried beneath piles of unkempt hair. “He seems harmless to me.”
Cameron turned to face the boy. “Are you from Nepal?” he asked in blue tongue.
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