by D. E. Morris
“Show off,” chuckled Badru. It was his turn. Now that everyone was aware of what was happening they watched with bated breath as Badru also shifted. Though his form was somewhat smaller than Cavalon's he was no less glorious to behold in his shimmery scales of fire.
As if sensing her longing, Jaryn snaked an arm around Ashlynn's waist and pulled her close to his side. Together they watched the dragons rise and soar south-west through the sky.
~*~*~*~
Jessiah was quick to shout up to Cavalon that going to Bás was not on his list of things to do before he died. He didn't say much throughout the entire flight to Ibays, but that was one thing he wanted to make sure he communicated. So after a quick stop at the shore for Cavalon to get a bath, it was directly for Lerranyth the dragons flew and within hours they saw the familiar towers on the horizon. Under Badru's direction they landed within walking distance of the township so the other two could shift back and join Jessiah on the ground. Most of the townspeople had seen the dragons coming and feared an ill omen, but it was Cailin who had calmed nerves and even waited for the trio at the entrance into town. Badru smiled widely upon seeing her, but the way she stood, hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her side and lips curved downward in a frown, had his smile quickly fading.
“Where in the name of the Giver have you been, Jessiah?” Her eyes were only for her familiar friend and they were burning with anger. “Do you have any idea what's been happening since you left?”
The young man blinked. “No?” He looked between Cavalon and Badru before returning his attention to Cailin. “We never found who we were looking for so when they decided to go back to Siness for a little while I asked to go with them.”
“Well apparently Baerston Hold was destroyed just before you left.” Her accusing gaze now swept to the other two. “Reports say it was a gigantic dragon cloaked in fire and another bigger one all white like the moonlight.”
“It was already in ruins,” Cavalon retorted hotly. “We didn't destroy anything time didn't already have a pretty strong grip on.”
“That's not the point!” She stepped forward, neck craned back to glare up into Cavalon's face. “Neither of you call Ibays home which means you are guests to this kingdom. Under the permission of High King Donnchadh you were free to roam about in search of someone you needed to find with the understanding that you would leave these lands as you found them.”
“No one ever said-” Badru touched Cavalon's arm in a silent plea for him to be quiet.
Cailin 's eyes narrowed. “How do you think it looks for the high king's own counted friend to be seen in the company of two beasts like you? You took no care to destroy something that holds historical importance to those who used to reside within or had family die there during the last reign.”
“Cailin, there is much you are missing from the tale,” said Badru. But before he could continue Cavalon took a step closer to Cailin and closed the distance between them, scowling down at her.
“How do you even know any of this? There was no one else around except those feral Gaels.”
Her voice was low and tinged with a caustic undertone. “Not all of them were feral.”
“You were having us followed the whole time, weren't you?”
“And you never even knew.”
“Enough!” They all looked at Badru and he turned imploring eyes to Cailin. “As I said, there is much you are missing from the tale.”
She shook her head and took a step back. “It doesn't matter. I have orders to bring you to Donnchadh.” Without another word she turned on her heel. It was only then that the men noticed the armored guards awaiting them as well. Knowing their options were few they dutifully fell into step behind Cailin and made for a rather glum parade through the village and up to the castle. Sheriff Fintan stood in wait for them there as well and took over leading the procession. Cailin gave them all a scathing look before disappearing that was met with only a frustrated roll of the eyes from Cavalon.
Everyone inside Lerranyth must have known what was happening. As soon as Fintan rounded a corner with the men behind him, the hallways cleared immediately. They were met with no disturbances or interruptions even when they reached the throne room. There the doors were opened for them and Fintan led them inside to find a seething Donnchadh sitting on his throne in wait. The sheriff bowed dutifully, then stepped aside to remove himself as the buffer between the angry king and those for which his rage waited.
Jessiah stepped forward immediately and said, “Your Majesty, I-”
“I don't want to hear it!”
Donnchadh's voice echoed off the stone walls around him, his face red and blotchy under his copper and gold beard. Jessiah stepped back and bowed his head in submission as his king shifted himself upon the throne. “Do you have the slightest clue as to the trouble you have caused me?”
“No, Your Majesty.”
“I have men coming to me telling me that you, one of my favorites, have taken up company with two uncontrollable Elementals who apparently believe they are above respecting the property of others, and therefore the ruler, in whose lands they are causing havoc! How do you think that makes me look, Jessiah?”
“Forgive me, Your Majesty.”
Cavalon, unable to stay silent any longer and refusing be next in line to be berated like a child, lifted his head. “None of this was his fault.”
“I do not recall asking for you to weigh in on this.”
“I'm not one to wait my turn.”
“And that is your problem.” Donnchadh rose and took the few steps down to be at the same level as the others. “You feel you are above all of us and do not have to bend to social graces, do you? You think yourself so high and mighty, perhaps because you are an Elemental, that you-”
“The only one who thinks they're high and mighty here is you.”
“You will not speak to the high king that way!” Fintan shouted. But Donnchadh raised his hand to his sheriff. A cold amusement flickered in his eyes and he walked a slow, tight circle around the Badarian.
“Does Ashlynn let you speak to her this way?”
“She doesn't merit it.”
Donnchadh stopped in front of him, hands clasped behind his back. “Perhaps you are untouchable because of who or what you are, and perhaps you will never see the consequences of the damage you leave in your wake, but someone must pay. Someone must always pay.” He lifted a hand and two guards came forward to grasp Jessiah roughly by the arms. “Take him to the dungeons until I decide the best way to be rid of him.”
Jessiah's eyes bulged. “Your Majesty! I have never been anything but loyal to you!”
“Until you allowed these savages to destroy what is mine!”
He looked wildly to Badru and Cavalon. “Help me! Please!”
“Another word and I'll have your head removed from your body before the sun sets!”
Cavalon clenched and unclenched his fists. His jaw worked and it was easy to tell he wanted nothing more than to hit Donnchadh, but both he and Badru were helpless to do anything as Jessiah was dragged screaming from the throne room. When he was gone and the doors were pushed shut, the high king turned to them with a detached expression.
“You will now leave this castle, this city, this country. So long as I am on the throne you will remain hunted fugitives. Elemental or not, I will not stop any that would take you down. In fact, whoever manages to do so will be greatly rewarded.”
“You realize,” said Cavalon with a strained voice, “you're as good as cutting off your ties with both Siness and Caedia by exiling us. Both of their high queens are Elementals just like us.”
“You overestimate your blood bonds, Badarian.” Calm now, Donnchadh returned to his throne and sat. “A ruler must put his or her country before family. That is how it has always been and how it will forever be.” His gaze lifted to the men at the doors. “Escort them out of the castle.” Appearing entertained, Donnchadh's final words to Badru and Cavalon were, “You have until tomor
row to disappear.”
They were shoved down the hallways with Cailin joining them close to the gates. Before the two men were pushed out into exile she grabbed Badru by the wrist with a mixture of sadness and anger on her face. “I don't know what happened or why, and I don't need to know. I just wanted to say that I didn't know he would react like that and I'm sorry that this will be our last meeting.”
Badru took both of her hands in his and pressed her knuckles to his lips. “Be well, sweet Cailin. Perhaps one day we will meet again.”
Their limited patience spent, the guards prodded Cavalon and Badru out under the raised portcullis and stayed there, snickering and smirking as it was lowered at their backs.
Cavalon left them with a few choice words before huffing off down the path that would lead them back through the township.
“He's going to kill Jessiah,” he spat as soon as they were out of the village and walking away from the capital. “You know that, right? Why didn't you do anything? Why didn't you say anything?”
“Donnchadh said himself that Jessiah is one of his favorites. We can only pray that will play in his favor.” With a slight frown, Badru shook his head. “Nothing I could have said or done would have changed anything.”
“He's got to make an example of someone and he doesn't strike me as the type of person to be that loyal.” Cavalon wrung his hands, pacing as though indecisive. “We have to get him out of there.”
“And how do you propose we do that?”
“Fyre. Obviously. We'll get in through fyre and fight our way out, take him with us. He said he wanted to return to Siness anyway.”
Badru shook his head. “If we do that we will be opening ourselves to a war with Ibays and if we do that we will be as good as banished from Siness and Caedia as well.”
Cavalon swore loudly.
“There may not be anything we can do to save Jessiah,” Badru continued, “but not all hope is lost on the reason for which we came here in the first place.”
“What do you mean?”
The darker man held up his hand to reveal a folded bit of parchment. “Cailin left us with a parting gift.” As Cavalon stepped closer Badru carefully unfolded the parchment. “She slipped it into my hand when she grabbed me just inside the gate.”
“What is it?”
“It seems to be....” He tilted his head, then flipped the note around so it was right side up. “The girl is south-west of here. It is confirmed.”
Cavalon looked up with raised brows. “That's more than Nuala was able to find out. It was just conjecture before.”
“Then let us head south-west.” Turning back toward the direction of the castle, Badru folded his hands together and bowed his head. “Giver, please be with Jessiah. He has been a great help to us and it does not sit well with us to leave him here. Protect him, and if it is Your will that his time on this earth is over, let his exit be a swift one.”
“Amen,” said Cavalon. “Come on. Let's get going.”
Chapter Seventeen
There was nothing Ashlynn had ever experienced that matched the feeling of flying. The closest she could liken it to was the giddiness one feels from laughing so long and hard that stress becomes a distant memory. It wasn't simply the practically weightless body, a body that by all rights should be far too heavy to soar so effortlessly through the sky, but a levity to her spirit as well. She was meant to be among the clouds, meant to coast on the chilly currents of air up so high that everything down below looked like a child's playset.
Her mottled yellow scales reflected the sunlight in golden sparks and as her powerful wings flexed to catch a strong rush of wind, she closed her eyes and let out a loud, joyous cry. It was so blissful to be that free that she found it almost intoxicating.
Gaels were warned about the cost of their gifts as children. To be dragon in form for a small amount of time was good for everyone graced with the ability to shift, but the longer they stayed in their draconic form, the less their ties to the human world would seem to matter. It was not uncommon for a Gael to be shifted for so long that they lost all feeling for friends and loved ones, and not long after, the desire and sometimes the know-how to become human again at all. That was how the feral Gaels came to be. They found others of their ilk and bonded together without really understanding what it was that drew them in. It was the very human nature they had all once possessed that made them a family of unpredictable beasts and men.
It was never a thought to her in her human form, but Ashlynn had been flying for nearly an hour now, not a long amount of time at all, and she could feel the difference when she thought of Lochlainn and Jaryn. She still loved them, still cared deeply for them, but it was easier to imagine surviving without them. It was almost numbing to her senses of love and devotion.
A bird, small next to Ashlynn's body, fluttered up by her head. She was hard to miss with her gradient color changes that started from her green head, blue wings that faded into purple, and a yellow breast completing her colorful outfit. It was time to return home. That was the bird's message delivered by her presence alone. The great dragon heaved a sigh and banked to the right to return to Altaine.
Small villages passed swiftly below, fields dotted with sheep and cattle, and brilliant blankets of purple thistle and heather everywhere. Then there was Altaine, a towering beacon surrounded by the labyrinthine streets of the village that formed an intricate knot of loops and curves that no one on the ground ever saw. How despairing it was to think not everyone had the luxury of seeing such beauty.
Ashlynn fanned her wings to their full extent to coast downward. A cold mist wet her face as she passed through a cloud, leaving glimmering drops of moisture on her scales. To be sure there was no one to land on, she trumpeted twice, short warning calls, before circling in the sky and landing in the largest of the open courtyards within the castle walls. Her transition from dragon to human was not a slow one, and many watched their high queen shrink and shift, with talons turning to fingers and golden scales turning to skin and cloth. With the transition nearly complete, the little bird came soaring in and, with a brilliant flash of white light, turned into the petite form of Lilia. Her wings tucked carefully onto her back as her feet touched the ground and she smiled at Ashlynn, now fully human again.
“Someday you'll let me go flying with you and not have me around simply to time you.”
Ashlynn flashed a grin. “Only when you learn to keep up with me.”
“You're much bigger than I am,” complained Lilia as they walked inside together. “It takes dozens of my wing beats to match one of yours. You've no idea how exhausting it is.” Her face lit up as an idea struck. “Perhaps you would let me catch a ride.”
Ashlynn's brow furrowed. “Absolutely not. What do you take me for, a flying horse to carry you around?”
Lilia's lip stuck out in a pout. “Why not? You carried the elves last year.”
“We were on the verge of war and needed them here faster than they could come on their own.”
“You're no fun at all.”
“Your Majesty.” A guard walked up to the pair of them and looked at Ashlynn. “High King Jaryn requests your presence in the throne room.”
She gave him a quick nod before moving on. To Lilia she muttered, “I am High Queen, my dear. I'm not allowed to be fun.”
Lilia fell into step behind Ashlynn as they walked into the throne room. There, courtiers lined the walls in conversation with one another, all waiting to see if they could somehow garner more favor than someone else from the royal couple. One such courtier stood next to Jaryn in conversation but bowed and backed away when Ashlynn swept into the room. There were no words exchanged between husband and wife. Jaryn handed her a scroll, his expression carefully blank. Ashlynn questioned him with her gaze but said nothing as she took what was offered and unrolled it to read what it contained. In a matter of moments she was rolling it back up, taking care as she cast Jaryn a quick glance that showed her excitement. He nodded to her, a
thin smile on his lips, then returned to the conversation he was having with the courtier.
Scroll in hand, Ashlynn left the throne room with Lilia close behind. “What is it?” she asked, her curiosity getting the best of her.
“Find my father and tell him to meet me in my library.” Ashlynn's gaze swept the ever-busy halls. She waited until they were past a crowd of people in conversation before telling Lilia in a quiet tone, “Ories has sent the scroll back, the one he took to see if any of the Volar could translate.”
“And?”
“No translations, but it seems we have a second page to add to our collection.”
Lilia's eyes widened in excitement. “The Volar capital had one? That's wonderful!” Checking the level of her voice, the younger woman glanced around. “I'll find your father right away.”
~*~*~*~
Bás was not a hard place to find once Cavalon and Badru knew where they were going. When they'd explored Ibays before with Jessiah they had been sure they'd seen most of the country. What they didn't realize they had missed by abandoning their search so early, was an entire village tucked into the southernmost peninsula. A heavy plume of smoke reached up into the sky to lead the way, well before they saw the village itself. Uncertain of what lay ahead, the two men landed and shifted to confer before pressing forward any further.
The village name itself meant “death” which did not bode well for their visit.
They had decided to proceed with caution and to reveal as little as possible about the child for whom they searched, when the familiar sounds of hooves caught their attention. They could see the two wagons drawing closer and agreed to find out what they could from them before heading to the village.