by D. E. Morris
“Grow big and strong, little prince. There will be much to carry on your journey.”
Releasing the baby, she gave Jaryn another curtsy before leaving the room all together. She passed Nuala with Cavalon and Lucien on their way in to see Ashlynn as well and offered them a polite bow in passing, then disappeared around the corner.
Nuala blinked, her thin brows wrinkled together. After a few steps she touched Cavalon's arm to stop him and hurried back down the hall to look around the corner, but no one was in sight. She'd seen that woman somewhere before, but where? Shaking her head, Nuala rejoined her son and husband and continued on.
“What was that all about?” Jaryn asked, his question as much for his wife as it was for Nuala.
“It doesn't matter,” said Ashlynn, a lightness to her spirit that she hadn't felt in a long time. She smiled at Jaryn and her son and her eyes lit up with glee. “Let me hold my baby.”
Jaryn grinned at her, his joy at seeing her finally starting to feel better eclipsing his confusion. “As the High Queen commands.” He brought Lochalinn over to the bed and handed him over, Cavalon standing behind him as Nuala lowered herself onto the bed with Lucien. The two boys reached for each other and laughed, playing as best as they could at their age.
“I think we have the beginnings of a fast friendship here,” beamed Jaryn.
“More than that,” Cavalon corrected. He gave Ashlynn a lopsided grin. “We're blood now. More than fast friends. We're family.”
“And family protects one another,” Ashlynn added. “Always.”
Under the covers she gripped the two scrolls and the brooch the mysterious woman had given her. Involuntarily, her eyes slid to the corner where Tadhg lurked. Merrik and Jessiah had been unable to defeat her and so would he. She looked up at her husband and then to her son, love swelling her heart. No one was going to come against her family and win.
No one.
⁂
Rain fell in glittering droplets, each one sparkling in the late day sun. Leaves of burnt umber and goldenrod bent under the weight of the water, catching each drop as it fell with a soft patter. Men and women dressed in richly colored robes ran for cover when the showers had begun, but now that the sun was coming out once more, they walked the muddy streets as though they had not a care in the world. If they thought they were being watched, none of them seemed to mind.
A man dressed in black turned away from the scene as though the colors hurt his eyes. He stood under the protection of a thick maple tree, no expression on his weathered face. Behind him, another man stood with his arms crossed over a kimono of varying shades of gray and black.
“It is time,” said the man in black, his deep voice slow and clear. “The boy has failed. I gave him the power he so desired and he squandered it. Now he is dead.” He sighed. “When Donnchadh died last year and I sent one of my own to take his place, I should have used him instead.”
The man behind him remained motionless, his expression grim.
“Now I have no one inside of Altaine and no hand on the crown of Ibays.” The man in black watched a thin flurry of brilliant yellow leaves fall from a ginkgo tree across the way. “Yet not all is lost. I have gained useful knowledge that I intend to use to my advantage. Now that I know that my followers can be more than mere shadows, many more doors are opened up to us.” He looked over his shoulder at his silent companion. “The boy was able to alter memories, make details hazy so as to manipulate any situation to his will. Granted, his inability to keep his story straight was the beginning of his downfall, but think of all we can do with this ability if it is harnessed.”
The man in the kimono shifted on his feet. “Why did he let himself be beaten? Once, I can understand. Twice seems...excessive.”
With a dark grin, the man in black turned to face his associate. “Sometimes we must go to great lengths to gain trust from someone who would not otherwise offer it so freely.” He studied the man carefully. “The question is, my friend, how far are you willing to go?”
Though the man remained silent, a breeze rippled through the autumn tree, sending handfuls of leaves into the air in swirling patterns of color. The man in black stepped out from the cover of the maple to look up to the cloudy sky. Though the rain had passed and white, plush clouds prevented the sun from fully coming out, he squinted at the shapes they made, searching. He was sure he'd seen a long, scaly white tail disappear behind the clouds. It made his dark grin even more menacing somehow.
“Moshi moshi!”
A little girl in a blue silk kimono ran up to the man in black. She pulled a purple flower from a basket she carried and lifted it up to the man. He looked down at her and smiled, crouching to be at eye level with her. Taking the flower, he twirled it between his fingers. “Kore wa nan desu ka?”
“Anata no tame ni.”
Still smiling, he tucked the flower into the pocket of his jerkin so the colorful petals stood out against the black. With a nod, he said, “Arigato,” before the little girl giggled and ran off to find someone else to gift with a flower. He observed her for a moment before noticing a man and a woman watching over her with tender expressions.
As his companion finally joined him out in the open, the man in black rose and took a deep breath in. “There is nothing quite like the joy a daughter brings a father.” With one final glance skyward, he nodded to the man in the gray kimono before the two of them headed out of the village.
Now, for a sneak peek at the next book in the
Age of Valor saga:
Dragon Song
Jaryn closed his eyes and tried to clear his thoughts. His sleep in the night had been restless and filled with strange dreams after sleeping the day before. He had also begun to feel how unsettled he was away from Ashlynn. As he had dressed, he realized that three nights away from her was the longest time they'd spent apart since they were married two years ago. It was decidedly a thing he would be sure to avoid in the future. He missed having her near to talk to, to joke with, even just to have in the same room with him so he wasn't alone.
There was incessant babbling behind him that kept trying to break through his calm – men from Connor's council trying to tell him how dangerous his departure from the country would be and the boy's rather assertive arguments – and Jaryn took a big, purposeful deep breath in. Beneath him, Misuzu shifted on her feet, her long, sinuous dragon form seemingly reflecting the slow moving gray clouds above. “You can talk to Cailin without hurting her, right?” Jaryn asked, leaning forward on the dragon's back to prop his chin in his hand. “Blink once for yes, twice for no.”
Yes.
Jaryn hissed, righting himself and holding his head. “I said blink! Dear Giver, I miss my wife. She never abused me liked this.”
“No,” Cailin agreed with a smirk, undoubtedly recognizing the look of pain from someone not used to speaking through telepathy. She fastened the buckle on the bag she carried, then tossed it up to Jaryn. “Ashlynn abused you in other ways.”
He caught the bag with a bit of a wince. “Aye, there is real truth in that. At least hers is done out of love.”
“So she says.” With her hands on her hips, Cailin turned to the group surrounding Connor and sighed. She put her teeth on her bottom lip and gave a sharp, loud whistle to gain their attention. “We're leaving in thirty seconds.” There was a mad scramble for Connor to pull away from the group that Cailin didn't see. She turned her back to them to walk several paces away and shift herself. Everyone watched her clothing melt into her skin, turning into sharp green and brown scales, their color highlighted by the occasional spot of gold. Connor ran as quickly as he could away from those he was leaving behind, taking no moment to pause before running up Cailin's tail and onto her back, plopping himself down in front of her wings, his knees resting on her shoulder blades.
“Go,” he urged, “before they try to run up here, too.”
It was all the encouragement Cailin needed. She extended her thin, leathery wings and gave them a mighty
pump, her powerful back legs launching her into the air as small rocks and twigs swirled below in her wake. Jaryn turned to give the men watching a wave, then found himself clinging to Misuzu's back as she slithered into the air like a water snake in a river. He'd flown on dragons plenty of times and was used to the way they felt beneath him. Like a good war horse, their muscles were strong and could be felt with every precise movement that was made, confidence in every beat of their wings. Riding an air dragon was a completely different experience. Having ridden her all the way from Siness, he knew better than to sit so far back, but he had also been unprepared for the quick take off and wasn't sitting where he'd been intending to. It was like being rocked back and forth in a constant dramatic rhythm and it was quickly making him sick. Misuzu's body was always in motion, rippling through the air and dense clouds. Careful so as not to fall, Jaryn slowly inched his way up Misuzu's body, gripping tightly with his thighs, until he could latch onto the downy mane that framed her head, the only part of her that stayed stationary. When he looked over at Connor and Cailin, flying close beside, he saw the boy laughing and the humor in Cailin's big brown eyes.
“Har har!” Jaryn yelled into the wind. “On the way back, you can ride the air snake!” Misuzu dipped suddenly, making him cry out and wrap his arms around her. This only succeeded in bringing on more laughter.
“This is amazing!” Connor bellowed. Holding on tightly, he bent to the side just enough to look far below, watching his countryside pass by under the dappled clouds separating them. He looked over to Jaryn and pointed downward. “I've always wanted to see Ibays like this. Cailin, go south!”
Jaryn was tentative to release the death grip he had on Misuzu as the two dragons banked and turned. When he felt steady enough, he looked down as well, then returned the boy's grin. “Nothing will ever give you quite the same thrill.”
With a happy holler, Connor sat up straight on Cailin's back. He lifted his chin to the sky and bravely extended his arms at his sides, eyes closing. The wind rushed past him, whistling in his ears. Though it was cold enough to make tears form in the corners of his eyes and his red hair like a fiery cloud above his head, he beamed as though he had never been so happy and at peace before.
Jaryn watched him, remembering the feeling of his own first flight. He'd been terrified at the time, completely opposite from the way Connor was reacting, yet just watching the boy gave him his own sense of giddiness. It was easy to understand why Gaels loved to fly so much and oftentimes lost themselves over to their draconic form because of it. He glanced at Connor once more, then lifted his own arms out and closed his eyes. His stomach flipped and his heart beat wildly, a whoop of joy building in his chest before passing his lips. Up there it was almost as if none of the troubles from the ground existed. He couldn't remember feeling so carefree before.
Adventurous, he dropped his arms and leaned forward, pressing himself as close to Misuzu's body as he could in hopes that she would hear him. “Since it's the lad's first time in the sky, I say we show him just how much fun flying can be.”
The one eye Jaryn could see crinkled just a bit, and he knew she was grinning. Cailin's head turned slightly toward Misuzu as though they were engaging in some silent conversation. Her maw parted to show her many sharp teeth, and Jaryn laughed. “You might want to hold on,” he shouted to Connor.
Connor's eyes opened as his hands dropped, and he looked at Jaryn with confusion. “What?” There was no time to answer. Cailin's entire body angled upward, causing him to double over and hang on for dear life. He screamed, terrified, but soon fell silent in anticipation. Cailin flew as high as she dared, then simply stopped pumping her wings. For a split second it was as if they floated there, gravity something they had bested, but the moment passed quickly and soon they were falling. Cailin tucked her wings in close to her sides, making herself as streamlined as possible. Connor was still rendered speechless, unable to do anything but hold on as they shot past Jaryn and Misuzu, heading straight for the ground.
“Let's not let them have all the fun!” Jaryn held on tightly to her mane and pressed in with his knees. “Go!” Misuzu needed little more for encouragement. She doubled herself over before springing to the ground like a cat from a perch. Twisting and turning as she went, making loops and spirals in the air, Jaryn let an expletive or two slip in surprise, but he couldn't have enjoyed himself more if he were Connor's age.
Cailin burst through the cloud cover but kept angling downward, even as the ground got closer and closer. “Pull up!” Connor screamed in a panic. “Pull up!” Seemingly at the very last second, she flung her wings wide and caught the updraft that sent them shooting upward like an arrow. Finally Connor cheered, knowing they weren't going to die. They evened out in the sky just as Misuzu shot past them and Jaryn hollered out a challenge. Suddenly the race was on. Cailin raced after Misuzu, pumping her wings as hard as she could. Connor bore down on her back, prepared as any hunter might be to catch his prey.
Hang on.
Jaryn didn't have time to complain about the pain in his head, knowing that he had better listen to Misuzu's instruction to him. He held tightly with everything he could, feeling the dragon roll to the side, slowly at first, then faster and faster.
Cailin slowed just a touch, and Connor breathed a, “Whoa...” as they both watched Misuzu and Jaryn become a blur before them. Clouds began to form around them as though being created out of nothing. Within seconds they were completely hidden, making Cailin stop her forward motion completely. She bobbed in the air as she beat her wings, looking at the wall of clouds before them. “Where did they go?” Connor asked. Cailin slowly made her way forward. When they reached the clouds, she stuck her maw through as if to test the way, then flew through all together, the air currents dispersing because of her wing beats. “Where did they go?” Connor asked again, urgency and wonder in his voice while they both visually searched the sky around them. “Cailin? Can you talk to Misuzu? Can you talk to me?”
She isn't answering.
Connor recoiled at the voice in his head, but it wasn't nearly as painful as it was for Jaryn. When Cailin had been at Lerranyth before and the two of them had played together, she'd spoken to him through telepathy several times. Still, the lack of consistency in the unique form of communication left his brain feeling fuzzy. He blinked and gave his head a good shake. “I didn't know air dragons could do that.”
I don't think all air dragons can.
The pair flew slowly forward, continuing in their search. After a short time, Connor began to worry. “She can't actually turn into clouds...can she?”
Honestly, I don't know. There's a lot about the Elementals I don't know.
“What about Jaryn? Could she turn him into clouds, too?” Connor gasped. “Did we blow them away by flying through them?”
Calm down. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for-
Misuzu and Jaryn came zooming up from below, stopping right in front of Cailin's face. “Look what we found,” Jaryn cried before the pair dropped down once more. Connor felt Cailin's body rumble with a ferocious growl before following after. In their race through the sky they'd nearly left Ibays, but on the ground beneath them was something that had them all intrigued. A mountain range jutted up toward them, tips covered in ice and snow. The rocky formation looked deadly with its sheer cliffs and narrow, winding paths, but that wasn't what had Jaryn so interested. The mountains themselves formed a tight, seemingly impenetrable circle around a body of water bigger than the entirety of Lerranyth and its two towns. “Is this the place on the map, the one that lined up with the elvish circle?”
Connor was pensive as he took it all in. “Ri Choróin...it means King's Crown in Caedian.”
Let's land, said Misuzu. If we plan on flying out to sea, Cailin and I could use a break from our draconic forms. She led the way down, landing on the rocky soil that preceded the towering mountains with their dramatic inclines and sharp, spear-like tips. Connor and Jaryn slid to the ground as the two
women shifted, Jaryn nearly breathless in wonder at the formation before him.
“It's massive.”
“I've never seen it myself, but we have stories about this place.”
Jaryn looked to the boy, picking up on the fearful tone of his voice. “What happened here?”
Connor shook his head but didn't take his eyes off of the mountains. “Good things, bad things...mostly bad things. Legend says there used to be a whole kingdom where that lake in the middle is now. It was a faery kingdom where humans weren't allowed. Once in awhile a mortal would wander in and he would be killed immediately. There was one day, however, when a whole army made it through the mountains, set to seize the kingdom. It's said that the king was so enraged that he commanded the sea to come up through the ground and swallow his kingdom whole - that he would rather they all perish than be captured and killed or tormented.”
Jaryn made a face. “Well that's a cheery tale.”
“The king was said to have been the first Elemental of Water,” added Cailin as she peered upward.
“We should have landed inside,” Misuzu said after a moment of walking around. “I'd like to see the lake, too. Are there any roads through the mountains?”
Connor shook his head. “They're impassable...and I definitely wouldn't want to land by the lake.”
Jaryn rose a brow. “Believe in the old tales, do you?”
The boy shrugged. “I don't know that I believe in them, really, but isn't it better to be safe than dragged to the bottom of the ocean and eaten by some monstrous misshapen faery sea creature?” The others looked at him and he stared back. “You know...or something like that.”
No one said anything for a moment, but Misuzu was unable to enjoy the silence for long. “I'm going to take a peek.” Without waiting for permission or acknowledgment, she turned into a little blue bird and flew straight up. It wasn't but a minute before her small form disappeared above them.