by Randal Sloan
Gavriel didn’t like the sound of that. “Why do you say that? Can we not have other nights? Now that we’ve found our way here, we could come on our own.”
Jailyn wanted to cry. Now that she’d found someone, someone that seemed to complete her, it could all be taken away. “I’ve been infected by a magic disease, one that’s consuming me. The Master says someone is coming tomorrow, someone that can cure me, but at a great price. I’m going to tell him not to do that. No one should have to pay that, whatever it is, to cure me. So I only have tonight.”
Gavriel shook his head. “I must talk to mother about it. Surely there is something we can do.”
“I only know what I’ve been told,” she shook her head sadly, “but that’s for tomorrow. As you say, we have tonight. Let’s not waste it.” She reached out to take his hand. “Come, let’s enjoy the time we have. Let’s walk and look at the beauty around us.”
Gavriel smiled at her. “That I can do.” He grasped her offered hand tightly, relishing the feel. Surely there was a way.
The two spent hours walking and talking in the Dream World. They splashed in the stream, the water cool to the touch but not cold. Jailyn called her hounds and they ran with them across the meadows, glorying in the thrill of the run. They spent hours talking, learning about each other. Gavriel realized something he should have seen all along. Humans and dragons were alike in so many ways, deep down in their souls, the very essence of themselves. All those years of learning from his mother as she’d taught him about dragons and humans, he’d never seen that before. He finally understood what she’d been trying to tell him.
He also realized something else. The moment he had seen this one, he had felt something powerful. With their time together now, he knew it was much more than just a mere attraction. He felt like they belonged together, almost like her soul was a part of his. Looking into her eyes, he knew Jailyn felt the same way.
But even in the Dream World, where time could be slowed as the Dream Master had done so many times, the time had to come to an end. The Dream Master had managed to give them the equivalent of quite a few days. Gavriel stood next to Jailyn as he prepared to leave, their hands tightly clasped.
“I’ll speak to Mother as soon as I leave here. I’m sure she’ll know what to do. I’ll come to you as soon as I can; it’s only a short flight by air. Don’t give up — we’ll find a way.”
Jailyn nodded, tears in her eyes. “I hope so. Oh, I hope so.” She wiped her eyes, looking up again into the depths of those eyes. Then she kissed him.
It was as if a fire enveloped them, a wondrous explosion of feelings. In that moment, Gavriel decided he would do whatever he had to do to protect this beautiful soul that he knew without a doubt he loved. Anything!
Then he was gone. Alone once more, Jailyn imagined a hammock tied between two green trees. I’ll just rest a few minutes until the Dream Master comes to get me. I want to cherish these few moments, perhaps the last I’ll have.
Crawling into it, she dozed there, feeling the warmth of the rising sun on her face. It felt good.
The Dream Master appeared beside her, touching her lightly on the cheek. “Sleep, dear one, sleep.”
He concentrated, slowing time as he’d never done before. He’d come to love this one.
I just hope it’s enough.
Gavr’iel came out of his dream state, looking for his mother. She sat in the window, looking out at the very first light of dawn. He had no doubt about the tears he saw in her eyes.
“Mother,” he said, stopping as she caught her breath. “What must I do to save her?”
“There is only one way. It comes at a great cost.”
“It doesn’t matter. Tell me.”
She told him.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The Choice
GAVR’IEL HAD LISTENED as his mother explained what he had to do. Her tears continued to flow as she told him. She had ended with the words that he couldn’t stop thinking about. “If you choose to do this, my son, you will change the future for all dragonkin and humankind. It’s a future that I can only tell you is possible, but not what it will mean.”
He nodded solemnly, the magnitude of the words sinking in. “I must go to her now,” he told her as he arose.
“What will you decide?” his mother had to ask.
“I don’t know. I know what my heart wants to do. Hopefully, that will be enough.” He stepped to the window, preparing to throw himself out to the winds. “I love you, mother.”
He leapt out the window.
Jailyn awoke to a great hunger. She knew she didn’t have long, but she was glad the Dream Master had given her what he could. She felt of her ropes, knowing she could break them if she had to, but knowing for now at least she wouldn’t. She steeled herself, remembering the words of the Dream Master when he said someone would come. Surely they would do so soon. She had to persuade him not to make that sacrifice for her, whatever it was.
Suddenly she felt a presence and looking up into the air, she knew who it was. Oh, Gavr’iel, why have you come? Her heart fluttered. Maybe his mother found a way!
But she dared not dwell on that hope. She would see him, then perhaps the one of whom the Dream Master had spoken would come. Then she’d send them all away. There was a cliff back up the trail just a little ways. She’d throw herself off. Not even this cursed magic could save her from that. Better than becoming a Beast like that thing.
Gavr’iel landed nearby; he was so graceful, the landing a thing of beauty. He came toward her.
“You mustn’t touch me,” she warned, before he could get too close.
“No, it’s alright, my love,” he told her. “It’s safe for you to touch me.” He leaned his neck down close to her, taking in her beauty.
She reached out to caress his face. When no horrific explosion of magic occurred, she smiled. “I wish I’d known about you all those days past, when I had the time. Now I have none.”
It was Gavr’iel’s turn to smile. “You can have them. Many, many days.”
“How? I’m barely holding on. This terrible thing will soon take control and I’ll become a monster. I can’t bear to let that happen.”
Gavr’iel grew serious. “You must bind yourself to me, and I to you. It is the only way.”
“But how? You’re still very much a dragon, and I am only a human.”
“I must become human in my flesh, the same as you saw in the Dream World. My dragon flesh will live in there in its place. Our souls will be intertwined and the dragon soul will destroy the infection.”
Jailyn just stared at him. Suddenly it all made sense. This was the terrible sacrifice! “No, my love. You cannot do that; you would give up so much, your joy of flight, your strength, your power and grace.”
He looked at her, drawing her into those eyes of his. “What does that mean, if I don’t have you? I’ll still have the rest in the Dream World. It will be enough, for in this world I’ll have you, the one I love, the one who has already intertwined herself within my heart.”
Jailyn could not resist those eyes. “You’ll take me with you into the Dream World, so that I can watch you fly and feel the thrill with you?”
Gavr’iel smiled. “Even better. You can have your own dragon body. We can fly together.”
Jailyn grew shy as she thought it through. “This ritual. We’ll become mates, in every sense of the word?”
Gavr’iel’s smile grew bigger. “Yes, but we dragons are very patient. We’ll take our time with all of it.”
Gavr’iel called out to his mother, who had been circling off at a distance. He was surprised when two white dragons came in for a landing.
“Mother,” he said as they drew near. “Chry’na, I can’t believe you came,” he went on.
She laughed at him. “You thought I would miss your binding ceremony? Of course I came. Plus, I had to see the one who’s stolen your heart.” She looked at Jailyn, smiling. “I can see why already. She is a beautiful soul.”
Gavr’iel had removed Jailyn’s ropes and she had dressed in the best robe she had. She was looking quite beautiful.
Despite the terrible hunger she still felt, the hunger to consume magic, Jailyn was no longer under its control. I guess I’m living off of love, she laughed to herself.
“Meet Chry’na,” Gavr’iel told her as they came near. “She’s one of my sisters and we’ve been quite close.”
“A sister that sometimes wished for more,” Chry’na told Jailyn, but she said it with a smile. “A sister that is very happy to see her brother so intertwined with the one he loves.”
Jailyn smiled back. “I don’t understand how it all happened, but yes.” Then she grew serious. “I’ve tried repeatedly to talk him out of this, this sacrifice he must make. But he’s so very insistent.”
“We dragons can be a very stubborn lot,” Gavr’iel’s mother said as she came up to them. Looking into her eyes, Jailyn could tell where Gavr’iel had gotten so much of his strength of will. She saw within them a happiness that suited the occasion, but yet a sorrow that went so deeply she had to catch her breath.
“You’ve given up so very much yourself,” Jailyn told her quietly. “No one can even fathom how much, can they?”
“No, but I did it for our future, the future for which the two of you today will begin. Do you understand what you undertake today?”
Jailyn nodded. “Just as Gavr’iel gives everything he has, so must I. What you do is a binding that goes to the very core of our being. There is no backing out once we’ve done so.” Jailyn smiled. “But I’ve seen the depths within your son, and they can be compared only to the depths within you. I’ll be quite blessed by this union.”
Tia'laryl bobbed her head, the dragon equivalent of a nod. “There’s more, of course. You’ll become the Queen of the Dragon Empire, an empire in name only perhaps, but an empire of power nevertheless. You’ll have great power, but with that great power will come a great responsibility. I will serve you as well as Chryna and the other dragons.” She smiled at the two of them. “Your children will rule the world; you must raise them with strength and love.”
Jailyn could only shake her head. “I’ve only wanted a place within this world to do good for others. Perhaps this will give me that chance. I certainly have no desire for such power.”
Tia'laryl smiled at her. “It will do that. I’m glad that you’re so pure of heart and that you do not desire this for power, but for only such reasons as you must. That will serve you well.”
She looked intently at the two of them. Her voice changed to one that carried a note of authority. “You both understand and agree to what we do today? We complete the binding ceremony, the ceremony that begins the intertwining of your souls. The two of you must then resume the quest with the others. After you return with the Talismans of Power and at a date the two of you determine, we will complete the final binding ceremony.”
Both nodded. Neither could believe their good fortune at having found each other and both were willing to complete the binding. “We agree,” they said together.
“Will the witnesses come forth and stand with the two?”
Chry’na and Jailyn’s group of friends came forward to take their places. Jailyn’s hellhounds appeared, the lot of them sitting in their proper places. They seemed to feel the joy of the occasion.
Taking a golden and purple sash from around her neck, Tia'laryl wrapped it around the hands of Jailyn and the forelimbs of Gavr’iel. She began chanting the spell of binding, creating a huge bubble of magic that surrounded them all.
Jailyn could feel the power of that magic, a power that took the place of the hunger for magic that up until that moment had consumed her — not destroying the magic that made up that hunger, but instead filling it up. Taking its place was a deep power that reached to her very essence.
Even up until the moment, she hadn’t understood what that would mean. She was not to be a queen in just name, but a queen in power and might as well. She saw the recognition of that understanding within Tia'laryl’s eyes, who seemed to nod gravely to her as she finished the spell. Jailyn was being given much more than she’d asked, but as Tia'laryl had told her, with that great power would indeed come great responsibility.
As Tia'laryl finished the chant, Gavr’iel morphed once more into the tall, strong young man Jailyn remembered from the Dream World, this time dressed in a wizard robe. The sash that had wrapped their arms disappeared, to reappear as purple and golden hems on both their robes.
Looking once more into each other’s eyes, their lips met once more in a kiss. Everyone burst out in a spontaneous cheer, the hellhounds howled in delight, and a burst of Tia'laryl’s magic exploded high into the air above.
Across the desert that separated them from the party they pursued, Ulrik and his assassin team felt the explosion of magic and trembled. For the first time, Ulrik realized just what he’d gotten himself into. He knew there was no choice but to go forward, but for now he worried that he might not succeed. Even if they did, already he felt the dark magics of the land beginning to grow aware of their presence. Somehow, Melthevis had closed the portal they’d used to get here, and there was only one way to go. Forward.
The rest of the day was spent in celebration and relaxation. The young couple were now bound in the equivalent of a human engagement, but it was stronger than that. They reveled in each other and yet each recognized what the other had given up for the joining. While Gavr’iel’s sacrifice was obvious, Jailyn, who’d wanted nothing more than to hide away in Jesse’s future kingdom just using her magic for good, was now thrust into a role she was little prepared for.
At least for now, she could push that to the back of her mind. After all, they had a quest to complete.
Of course, the two didn’t get to spend much time alone worrying about such deep thoughts. The others pulled them into a literal celebration with food and drink brought by Chry’na to be shared by all, her gift to the couple. The others also brought forth gifts, to the delight and pleasure of Jailyn and a quiet understanding by Gavriel. It was obvious they had all been warned beforehand by someone, for the gifts they brought had to have been prepared even before their departure on their quest.
Jailyn’s most intimate friends, Jesse, Corrie, Kelsey, and Carisa, each came forth bringing magically created gifts, gifts brought from the island by one of Gavr’iel and Chry’na’s brothers as a first service to the couple.
A rose that bloomed perpetually was the gift from Corrie, his spirit affinity enabling him to weave the spell that kept the rose renewed. But there was more; the rose would change colors as a reflection of the things around it, red for love, blue for happiness, golden for warmth. He warned that if it ever turned black, that meant danger. Jailyn couldn’t believe he’d managed to incorporate the last, a representation of the very essence of his ability.
As her first real friend of the trio, Kelsey gave Jailyn a hug before handing her gift over, a water-spelled urn and chalice set. She explained that when the urn was filled with water or wine, the chalices would automatically siphon off from the urn as they drank. By storing the urn in a cool place, it could be kept cold so the drink would remain chilled.
Carisa had conspired with her father to produce a golden lantern that would light on command, using her gift of fire to produce the light. The light could be varied from a mere penlight to a light powerful enough to fill a large room. Laughing, Carisa told her another secret. Within the lantern was a core of null magic that could on command pull the light from a room. Such as giving one darkness when needed for privacy, she’d told her while pointedly looking at Gavriel. That had brought a blush to Jailyn’s cheeks, exactly what the girl had been after.
Jesse came bringing a coat of arms that proclaimed Jailyn as a baroness in the Kingdom of Callidore, a gift that had little apparent value at the moment, but a huge potential value in the future. Jailyn knew wh
at it really meant to Jesse, his final acceptance of what both of them were to become, the two once poor orphans from the tiny village of Corlym.
Then Kynin came forth bringing a set of rings that were a joint gift from the Masters of his Church and from the Master Wizards from the island. Beautiful pieces of jewelry, the rings were to show the engagement of the young couple to the human world. They quickly placed the rings on each other’s fingers, happy to have that visual evidence of their union.
Finally the young couple had been left alone, with Jailyn laying her head on Gavriel’s shoulder. “It’s a lot for us to take in,” she told him. “You and your human form, me with this huge power of magic now within me, and yet a difficult and dangerous quest still to be undertaken.”
“Yes, it is,” Gavriel had replied, “but yet we can still only take it a day at a time, can we not, love?”
“A day and a night at a time,” Jailyn told him. She laughed at the look in his eyes. “No, not that, not yet. But nights in the Dream World, where you promised to teach me how to fly.”
“Yes, there’s that,” he said. He gave her a smile. “But what you don’t truly understand yet, my love, you now have half a dragon soul within you. Without a doubt, you’ll be able to fly within moments of having felt your dragon body.”
“This thing we’ve been given,” Jailyn told him. “It’s quite amazing and wonderful, isn’t it, and I know it represents the future for both dragon and man. But your mother, I see within her the sacrifice she made to bring this to us. She gave up much for us.”
Gavriel nodded. “I see that now more than ever. I wish I could have known my father. He must have been quite special.”
“Much like you, I suspect, my love. Very much.”