Wings of Nestor

by Walls, Devri

  “Kiora!” Alcander put up his hands, trying to direct the water around himself, but the size was beyond his power. It swept his feet out from under him, washing him backwards and slamming him into the house. Kiora released the water with a yelp and ran toward him.

  “Alcander! Are you all right?”

  He looked a little dazed. His hair and clothes were drenched.

  “Fine.” He coughed. “Fine. What was that?”

  She shrugged, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “The fires are out.”

  Drustan made a low pass, his claws barely skimming the ground. Emane stood up, running down Drustan’s back. As Drustan’s tail whipped around, Emane crouched, bending his knees, and slid down the rest of the tail. He landed neatly on the ground not more than a foot in front of Alcander as Drustan headed back to the sky.

  “How?” Alcander blinked as if he were sure he was seeing things. “What magic did you use for that?”

  Emane grinned. Reaching out his hand, he offered it to Alcander, pulling him up. “No magic. Some of us just have physical abilities beyond what others may have.” He clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re all wet, Alcander. What happened?”

  Kiora covered her mouth and turned away to hide her laugh.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Toopai

  THAT NIGHT AFTER DINNER, Kiora was exhausted. If it hadn’t been for Emane healing all her bumps and bruises, she probably wouldn’t have been able to walk. All four of them had eaten their fill of fish—again—and were dragging themselves wearily up the stairs when the doors to the house flew open. Alcander whirled, dropping into a crouch as he sent out a sphere. It traveled down the staircase and toward the open door, popping the intruder’s bubble and revealing Lomay and Arturo standing in the entryway.

  Lomay smiled and clapped. “Bravo, Alcander. Splendid reaction time!”

  “Arturo!” Kiora rushed down the stairs to wrap her arms around the Pegasus’ neck.

  I have missed you, Arturo thought in his beautiful tenor voice.

  I have missed you too, Kiora thought. “Lomay, how are the people? Did everyone get out all right?”

  “They are fine, my dear. They are worried about you just as you are about them.” He smiled kindly.

  Alcander leaned, casually annoyed, against the banister. “Did you come for a reason, or simply to test my reaction time?”

  “I had a vision,” Lomay said cheerfully. “So I intercepted Arturo and asked him bring me along.”

  “What did you see?” Kiora asked.

  “Nothing that will tell me the outcome of this idea of yours,” Lomay said, throwing her a meaningful glance. “Would you mind explaining yourself?”

  They moved into a side room. It was large, yet cozy. Sofas and armchairs dotted the room, anchored by thick plush rugs and side tables. Once they were all settled, Kiora explained the visions and her theories about why they needed to understand Jasmine, who she was, and why the dragons were the only ones that may hold the answers they needed. When she finished, Lomay’s expression was darker than she had ever seen, his eyes fixed on the floor.

  “I suppose it’s possible.” Lomay looked thoughtful before standing abruptly. “Emane, Alcander, Drustan, I think it is time you all retire. I would like a few moments alone with Kiora and Arturo.”

  As Emane walked by him, Lomay patted him on the back. “Glad to see you again, my boy, and in one piece.”

  “Thank you.” Emane stopped. “You’re not going to talk her out of this?”

  “No, I am afraid not.”

  “I would like to go with her,” he said.

  “I am afraid it would be most dangerous for you to accompany Kiora. In order to protect people, sometimes you must keep your distance,” he said with an understanding smile.

  “I seem to be keeping my distance a lot. Good night.”

  “Good night,” Kiora answered back.

  Alcander walked by Kiora, his finger trailing down her arm. He looked nearly unaware he was doing it until the magic jumped between them, at which he delicately removed his hand and left the room without a glance or word to Lomay.

  Lomay looked to the remaining member of the group. “Drustan?”

  “Did the Shifters make it out of the canyon?”

  “Most of them, yes.”

  “Thank you.” He bowed his head. “For not leaving them behind.”

  Lomay waited until the door clicked shut. “There are some things you need to know before this journey of yours.” He perused the chairs, trying to decide which one would be most comfortable. “The dragons are not going to give you time to explain yourself before your approach.”

  “You are telling me it’s hopeless?”

  “No. It was, but it’s not now.” He dropped into a chair, patting the arms with a sigh. “My first vision I had of you was disastrous. That is why I hailed Arturo to bring me with him. What were your plans, exactly, if the dragons attacked?”

  “Well, a shield,” she said, sitting in the chair across from Lomay.

  “Right.” Lomay leaned forward. “Except a shield does not protect all your sides, does it?” Kiora shook her head. “With the welcoming party they will send, you will need all sides protected.”

  What would you have us do, Lomay? Arturo asked.

  It was the first time Kiora had ever heard Arturo’s thoughts to another. She wondered if he had shared them with her on purpose. Arturo gave a curt nod in her direction.

  “On our way here, I had another vision. A vision of you doing what I would suggest.” Lomay smiled, his chest puffing up proudly. “It worked brilliantly.”

  And what would that be? Arturo’s thoughts were tinged with annoyance at the old man’s theatrics.

  “A water shield.”

  Kiora looked blankly at him. “A what?”

  “A water shield,” he repeated proudly.

  I am not familiar with that, Arturo thought.

  “Of course not. I made it up. But as I mentioned, I saw the vision and it worked perfectly.”

  As usual, Kiora couldn’t decide whether she should be exasperated or amused. Can’t you just read his mind for me? Kiora asked Arturo.

  His mind is closed to me. I can communicate with him, but that is all.

  “Lomay, could you please explain to me what a water shield is?”

  “Certainly. What is the best defense against fire?”

  Of course he wasn’t going to explain it. He was going to make her guess her way into it. “Water.”

  “Right you are. So Kiora, if you are surrounded on all sides by fire-breathing dragons and your shield cannot protect you, what can you do?”

  Arturo snorted, tossing his head.

  “Don’t worry—she will get there on her own,” Lomay said, waving the Pegasus off.

  I am sure she will, but why must she?

  “Because,” Lomay answered, turning to look at Arturo, genuinely surprised at the question. “We must teach her to problem solve.”

  Kiora immediately smiled, thinking back to Arian’s cave and how long she stood outside with Arturo refusing to help.

  Arturo huffed. We had time then, Kiora.

  “You already told me the answer was water,” Kiora said, continuing to work out the problem. “But if I shape it into a shield, I will have the same problem as a regular shield.”

  “Yes,” Lomay said simply, looking at her, eyebrows raised in anticipation.

  Kiora leaned back in her chair. “I would need to be surrounded with water. Like a bubble. A shielding water-bubble?”

  “Don’t ask me,” Lomay urged. “Tell me.”

  “A shielding water-bubble.”

  It could work—she certainly has access to all the water she needs, Arturo mused.

  “Of course it will work,” Lomay said. “I told you—I have already seen the vision.”

  “Are your visions always right?” Kiora asked.

  “No. Sometimes even the best attempts at deciphering can be misconstrued. And sometimes,
they change.”

  That statement should have terrified her, given the circumstances, but instead, a thrill ran up her spine. Sometimes they change. It was possible, then, to avoid the war, just as Alcander had said. She saw Arturo looking curiously at her in regards to her current line of thought. Putting herself back on topic, she asked. “And in your first vision I died?”

  Lomay tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair. “To clarify, you asked me if my visions were always right, not if this vision was right.”

  “How can you possibly know?”

  “This one is right—not much to misconstrue.”

  “Did you see what happens after the water shield?”

  “No. That is the other reason I needed to talk to you. I am concerned about what may happen after they take you to Toopai. Dragons have…” He hesitated.

  “Tempers?” Kiora offered.

  “Yes, and dangerous ones at that.” Lomay shook his finger at her. “You must watch your tongue at all times. And for the love of the Creators, do not mention me for any reason.”

  Kiora raised her eyebrows. “What did you do?”

  “Oh, my dear girl. I have had an awfully large number of years to do an awfully large number of things. I was not always as wise as I am now.”

  Her head was starting to pound at the thought of flying into a dragon colony. “Anything else?”

  “It would be wise to ask for help under the reason of defeating the Shadow, as opposed to giving the people back their homes. I think the dragons would find the annihilation of the other races rather appealing. As long as their enemies are dying, they are content with that. And they will continue to be, until the Shadow is done hunting us and ready to turn on them once more.”

  “Anything else I shouldn’t mention?”

  “Most things.” Lomay’s eyes twinkled as if he had just said something incredibly funny. “If the queen is still alive, I suspect she will know who you are. But I would not mention that Emane is non-magical, or that you are working with a Tavean. Be cautious. Also, bubble yourself on the way out of here—we don’t want the Shadow finding you before you make it back. But once you come within sight of Toopai, drop your bubble. It is polite to announce your presence.”

  “Polite,” Kiora mumbled. “Isn’t it also polite not to send out dragons to kill me?”

  “Using proper manners can be a dangerous game, but politeness will you earn you the right to speak.”

  How long is the flight? Arturo asked.

  “Eight hours, give or take. Can you do it?”

  I can.

  “Good. It will be better if you come upon the island with the sunrise. There will be fewer on patrol. You should leave tonight, but you both need some rest.” Lomay groaned as he rose to his feet. “I will wake you when it’s time.”

  Kiora trudged to her room. She should have been relieved; Lomay’s vision said she would live. But she had not really understood what she was going into. Now she knew she would be placing her life in a water-bubble shield—something Lomay just invented.

  ***

  LOMAY WOKE KIORA AFTER WHAT felt like minutes. Her eyes were heavy, but her heart fluttered anxiously against her chest. They had found a small assortment of clothes stored in the house and Kiora put on a pair of simple gray pants as well as a light-blue shirt that had laces crisscrossing the front. She pulled her hair back from her face and looked in the mirror. She absently touched the white streak in her hair before pulling on her knee-high boots and walking as softly as she could down the stairs and into the courtyard where Arturo stood waiting for her, alone. She wanted to tell Alcander and Emane goodbye, but she was about to fly into a dragon colony. The chance that the goodbye might be permanent made it far too real.

  Are you sure you want to do this? Arturo thought.

  Yes.

  Soon they were airborne, dropping off the cliff into the black of night and heading straight out. Kiora put the bubble up as they passed the rock that marked the end of the barrier. She shivered and laid her head on Arturo’s neck. Closing her eyes, she imagined for a moment that they were back in Meros, flying across the valley. The lapping of the waves, however, disrupted the illusion.

  There is a presence in your mind that is not your own. Would you mind explaining that to me?

  Alcander connected his mind with mine to protect me from the Shadow. Nudging Alcander’s mental presence a little farther to the side, she opened her memories to Arturo. It was silent for a while as Arturo took it all in.

  Did you bond with this Tavean before or after the connection?

  Kiora was silent, letting Alcander’s block fall back into place. She left just enough open to hear Arturo’s thoughts.

  I see.

  “I don’t want to be judged,” she mumbled into his mane.

  Kiora, I have lived longer than you know. I understand more than you do. Do you not think I might understand?

  “You were angry with me for Emane,” Kiora pointed out. When Arturo had found she and Emane curled up together in the Cave of Arian, he had been so angry he could barely speak to her. She still did not understand why he reacted so severely.

  Oh, Kiora. Arturo fell silent for a few beats of his feathered wings. Have you never thought that maybe I was not angry that you cared for Emane, but because I understood what path you were taking?

  Kiora sat up, staring at the back of Arturo’s neck. “What do you mean?”

  I think you know what I mean.

  Pulling back the block in her mind a little, she thought, How long will I live, Arturo?

  I think it will be a very, very long time. The more magic you have, the longer you live. You have far exceeded the amount of magic any human has ever carried. Aleric has lived for a few hundred years with far less magic than you.

  Can I…when this is over… She couldn’t verbalize the words, not even mentally. But Arturo garnered her meaning.

  No, Kiora. You cannot give up your magic, no matter how badly you might want to.

  “But I gave magic to Emane, dumped it into him. What if I dumped it all?”

  It came back, didn’t it? It will always come back. The only true way to give up being magical is to give up your very life. They are connected now. That is the only way.

  Kiora bit her quivering lip. I can either live multiple lifetimes, or not live at all. That is what you are telling me?

  It is. That is why I never approved of Emane.

  “You approve of Alcander?”

  I neither approve nor disapprove. My only concern is the pain it will cause you. Kiora started to object, but Arturo thought over her. I know you will not, nor can you, stop loving Emane simply because you learned the reality of your life. That knowledge will cause you pain. Knowing the significance of your bond with Alcander causes you pain. Choosing will cause you pain. I am sorry, little one.

  Kiora clenched his mane when he called her “little one.” She would always associate that name with a wonderful tenor-voiced dragon who was the strongest soul she knew.

  I miss him too, Kiora. Morcant was a great creature.

  “He always called me ‘little one.’”

  That he did.

  She hoped that Toopai would be filled with more dragons of Morcant’s caliber. But after listening to Alcander and Lomay, she was expecting them to be closer to Soolan and Jarland—a frightening thought indeed.

  ***

  AS THE SUN ROSE, Toopai came into view on the horizon. It looked like a giant mountain with steep slopes.

  Where do they live? Kiora thought.

  Inside the volcano.

  What is a volcano? Kiora scanned the island in front of them for anything she didn’t recognize.

  It’s not the kind of mountain you are used to. At one time it spewed forth molten rock and ash, leaving the inside hollow and empty. The heat bubbling up from deep within the volcano heats the dragon’s homes to the temperature they prefer. This particular volcano is unique—the molten rock formed chambers throughout the mountain, as
well as something else you will have to wait to see. I fear my description won’t do it justice. I had a dear friend of a dragon myself, long before the gates were closed.

  She hoped she would get to see it, but first she prayed this water shield worked. “Here we go.” She dropped her bubble.

  Shortly after, a roar went up in the distance. She felt the dragons’ threads. The roar was a familiar melodic strain. Strong, loud, and musical. Arturo dropped lower, his hoofs skimming the water below.

  Get ready, Kiora. Visualize what you want to do.

  She was suddenly gripped with fear.

  You will be fine. Have confidence.

  Kiora felt the threads approaching before she could make out the forms flying across the water. She tried to sort out how many were coming, but the multiple threads of the incoming dragons vibrated together, creating an intricate harmony running through her that she couldn’t pick apart.

  “Why are their threads doing that?”

  It is how dragon threads are—you have never been around enough to realize it. It is a tactical advantage for them. It is never wise to attack dragons at home—you never know for sure how many there are.