Vessel of the Gods Boxed Set

by Jada Fisher

  “Here, lay the cloaks out to make a sort of bed. We can use the blankets from under Ethella and Fior’s harnesses for padding. Someone here, make a fire, a hot one. I’m going to need someone to find water and another one to make bandages.” She was interrupted as Eist let out another long scream. “A lot of bandages.”

  They scattered to do as she asked, and time took on a funny sort of tilt. The miracle of birth was supposed to be wonderful, exciting, and full of happy tears, but all Ukrah could feel was absolutely terrified out of her mind.

  It wasn’t supposed to be like this. Eist was supposed to be home, in her bed, with the best healers around her. Instead, she just had the motley group surrounding her.

  “I’m calling for reinforcements, just so you know,” Dille said breathlessly as they rushed to set things up. “I’ve sent out three spells. I’m sure they’ll get to someone.”

  Eist nodded, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. The split in it was growing worse, and Ukrah was beginning to think that none of the hunters had given it to her at all and the small wound was actually from herself.

  But that thought just made her work harder, faster, trying to collect as much as she could to make Eist’s birthing a bit easier. Somehow, they managed to get everything that Helena had demanded, boiling the water in a rock that Dille had used magic to shape into a wonky-looking cauldron.

  Helena hadn’t exactly been sitting idle either. There was a close approximation of a bed below Eist and a cloak draped over her bottom half for modesty. Her sleeping gown was pushed up to her waist, still completely drenched with all the sweat she was losing. Her groans were coming more and more frequently while increasing in volume. Helena had moved to post herself between the god-woman’s short legs, which she was gently stroking while whispering comforting things.

  Athar was at Eist’s side, one of her hands between his oversized ones, curling close to her and also saying soft, encouraging things. It was beautiful, in a very scary sort of way, but Ukrah didn’t give herself time to cherish it. She had to keep the fire going. Keep the water full. Dip the bandages in the boiling liquid.

  And Crispin was there next to her all the while. Telling her it would be alright. She wanted to object, to say that she wasn’t the one who needed comfort, that Eist was, but he would just nod and keep on working beside her.

  “Oh, by the spirits! Something’s changed! The pain, it’s changed!” Eist’s panicked cry ripped through the rhythm they had fallen into during the passing minutes and Ukrah nearly pitched forward into the fire. Crispin caught her sleeve, however, and hauled her backward to safety.

  “I’m gonna go ahead and take a feel, alright?” Helena calmly said.

  Eist nodded, panting hard. “Do it. For the ancestors’ sake, just do it.”

  Helena reached under the modesty cloak and did something before her expression grew more serious. Ukrah could swear that she felt the honeyed warmth that the woman exuded nearly double, pouring over their small area in a lovely little wave. “Your babe is on the move, Lady W’allenhaus. I think it’s gonna be coming right soon.”

  “They better,” the woman said breathlessly. “Because this hurts!”

  “Does it hurt worse th-than when that possessed healer threw you through a d-door?” Athar said, stroking her forehead.

  “Yeah, definitely worse than that.”

  “How about when you got shot through the sh-shoulder with an arrow and it poisoned you?”

  Eist let out another long, low groan. “Actually, I think that hurt worse.”

  “There you go. How about when your arm was broken?”

  She winced at that. “Nope, not as bad as this either.”

  “Huh, that’s something then, isn’t it? This isn’t the worst thing you’ve been through, but it’s up there.”

  “Do you have a point in all that?”

  “Nope, just d-distracting you. Is it worth it?”

  Ukrah watched as the god-woman let out the weakest chuckle. “Yeah, it’s helping.”

  Helena reached under the cloak again. “Oh goodness! You’re coming along perfectly, Lady W’allenhaus. I expect we’ll be seeing a head soon.”

  “You hear that?” Athar asked with a smile. “Our little one is coming into the world. If you think about it, it’s exactly what a child of yours would do.”

  “What do you mean by that?” Eist wheezed breathlessly, eyebrows pinched in pain. Ukrah had never seen the woman so weak, so exhausted and thoroughly spent and yet still fighting to do what her body wanted. It was inspiring. It was terrifying. It was amazing.

  To think that women had been doing something so painful, so dangerous, for years and years, dedicating themselves to bringing life into the world even though it risked theirs so much… It made strange feelings rise in Ukrah’s chest. Like she was personally responsible for making sure that the world was a better place for all the babies being brought into it. That she made it a place worth all the struggle of every mother.

  But the god-woman kept on, unable to hear Ukrah’s internal monologue. “Are you insinuating that our baby would make this intentionally difficult?”

  “They obviously t-take after your side,” Athar murmured, voice so low, so sweet. The love between them was borderline painful to watch, it was so true and pure. “Everyone knows th-that I’m the reasonable one.”

  “The boring one,” Eist countered.

  “Someone needs to cancel you out.”

  “Rude,” the woman accused, laughing slightly. “Is that any way to talk to the mother of your child?”

  “That depends.”

  “Oh, yeah? On what?”

  “Ya gonna let me name it?”

  She snorted at that and the sound was so mundane, so everyday, that it stood out in sharp contrast to the scene in front of them. “Excuse me, I’m the one who’s let this creature grow inside me for all these moons. I get to name it.”

  “Fair enough.”

  Eist let out another loud cry, and surprisingly, Helena did too.

  “The head! The head! By the spirits, I see the head! Your baby is coming!”

  “Ugh!” Eist cried. “They would come before anyone from the city could make it. How far are we, even?”

  “The spells might not have made it through. You know they don’t go well over long distances.”

  “Hey, where’s your little dragon?” Eist asked, teeth gritted as she looked over at Ukrah. It was the first time she had acknowledged the desert girl’s presence and it startled her. “He didn’t get…taken, did he?”

  “No, no,” Ukrah soothed, taking this chance to come forward and kneel at the woman’s side. “He’s safe in Dille’s quarters with people she trusts. He’s not so good at being quiet, so we thought it would be better if he was kept somewhere safe.”

  “He’s probably going crazy right now over you being gone. Sure could use him now. Maybe have him call Elspeth.”

  “Yeah,” Ukrah agreed. “We could have.”

  Surprisingly enough, the woman held up her remaining hand. It was shaking, and Ukrah could see that it was covered in clammy sweat, but she gripped it anyway. “Warning to you, I’m about to squeeze this really hard.”

  Ukrah smiled softly, feeling something lovely grow within her chest. “That’s okay. Squeeze as hard as you need.”

  “Alright, m’lady, I want you to push down as much as you can on my count, alright? Like you are going to use the chamber pot.”

  “Mostly, I just puke in the chamber pot,”

  “That is most definitely not what I mean, but glad you still have a sense of humor about you. I’ve heard some right foul words out of women when they reach this stage.”

  “Eh, I’ve said enough curses in my lifetime. This hurts, but it’s going to be worth it.” Eist let out a truly horrendous cry. “For once, the pain is going to bring something good. I… I need that good.”

  That struck something with Ukrah, and she nodded. “I know exactly what you mean.”

  “Alright
then, go ahead now. Push!”

  Eist let out a long sound, and Ukrah could feel her whole body tensing. Everything seemed to be rising to a crescendo again, building up to something truly magical.

  “Okay! Good. Stop, stop! Just breathe now. Short and meaningful. Give yourself a minute to recover.”

  “I don’t want to recover! I just want it out!”

  “You can’t rush these things, love. You might hurt yourself. Look at me, listen to me, okay? We’re going to breathe together.”

  More of that perfect happiness flowed out of Helena, and Ukrah risked a glance to her. She wasn’t surprised to see magic crackling in the air around the woman and that her eyes were glowing with a gentle white light. It was like the opposite of Ukrah’s gift, all soft and welcoming and reparative.

  She had to be the vessel for something truly loving. Ukrah wished she knew more about the spirits of old, the kind of power they wrought and what they did. There had to be at least some record of them somewhere.

  But of course, there were more pressing matters at hand.

  “Alright, push! Really push! This is the shoulders and it’s going to be the worst part, I promise you.”

  Helena was right. The sound out of Eist was completely horrific, louder than anything else that had come from her throat. It would have made the desert girl shrink away, but she had to be strong for the woman. After everything Eist had done, after how much she had gotten hurt for others, how much she had given up, Ukrah could at least be there in her moment of need.

  And what a moment it was.

  Everything built up in noise and crying and wetness until Helena let out a triumphant shout. There was a smacking sound, and then suddenly, a baby’s cries filled the night sky like a symphony.

  “Is that it?” Eist said, her voice jagged like glass. “Oh dragons, let me see! Is my little one here?”

  “Congratulations, Lady W’allenhaus. That might be the most beautiful baby girl I’ve ever seen.”

  And then she was handing the child to Eist, all gross and covered in blood and mucus, but also beautiful in every way. She was still crying, wailing really, but it was a wonderful sound compared to the fact that they thought they weren’t going to hear it at all.

  “Oh, my baby. My little baby girl. She’s here. She’s finally here.”

  “She is.” Athar’s voice was warbling, the giant man brought to tears by the life in front of him. Ukrah’s heart swelled, wonderful and warm, and it wasn’t just because of Helena. “What do we call her? Do you know?”

  The woman didn’t even look at him, her eyes locked on the newborn in her arms. “I’m… I’m not sure you’ll like it.”

  “Eist…” He bent forward to press a kiss to her sweaty cheek. “You could n-name her anything you want.”

  “I was thinking… Yacristjin. After…you know.”

  Athar let out a little sound that was full of so much Ukrah couldn’t possibly understand. “Yeah, I know. I th-think that’s perfect.”

  “Well then,” Eist said, shuddering slightly. Suddenly, there were tears pouring from her eyes and down her cheeks, and Ukrah didn’t know if they’d always been there or if they were new. “Welcome to the world, little Yacristjin.”

  Welcome to the world, indeed.

  Vessel of the Gods

  Rise of the Black Dragon, Book 5

  1

  New Life, New Changes

  “Ukrah, could you help me out and take Fior for a flight around the city later? He’s getting all cooped up, and I just can’t with how needy the baby has been.”

  Ukrah looked up from her scroll where she was practicing her writing. After everything that had been happening lately, she felt like she hadn’t had the chance to study in ages. It was good to finally settle down and work on her literacy, but when she looked up to see Eist standing in her doorway, thoroughly exhausted, Ukrah found herself nodding.

  “Sure, whatever you need.”

  You are a vessel to rebirth the world, not a nanny!

  “Oh dear, what are you doing here, standing like a waif?” The unmistakable sound of Helena coming down the hall made Ukrah smile. In the months that had passed since little Yacristjin had been born, the woman had been a true blessing to the house.

  She mended clothes, helped Mrs. Kalldonner, and even spruced up the manor in ways that Ukrah couldn’t quite put her finger on. She still occasionally caught the woman sighing to herself with melancholy rolling off her in waves, though, and Ukrah knew that the woman was thinking of her son. A couple of riders were still searching for him. Once Helena realized that Ukrah was there, however, she would just pretend that everything was alright.

  Ukrah never pointed out otherwise to her. It seemed rude. Especially since the woman had already risked so much just to join them. Sure, it was their destiny to bring the vessels together, but that didn’t mean Ukrah didn’t feel a little bad about how the woman had ended up with them.

  Not that she often had time to actually feel anything. Between training and working on magic, in addition to there being a baby in the house, there wasn’t exactly a lot of idle time.

  Also, there was a bit of…politics going around that she didn’t quite understand. She knew it had to do with the dragon riders that had attacked them on their way to Helena’s village, as well as a faction of the Sect of the Three getting into the city and being able to get past the guards to ambush Eist.

  Ukrah supposed she would know more if Eist ever talked about the situation, but she wouldn’t. At least not to any of them. She wouldn’t say how they surprised her, or how they got her into bonds. Wouldn’t say if she recognized any of them, wouldn’t talk about if any hurt or mocked her. She wouldn’t even say how they had chased off all the other brindled dragons or if it was coincidence and they’d all gone on a flight together, as they did occasionally, being rider-less and outside of time as they were.

  “No! That is not how you should treat your mama!”

  Ukrah looked back at Eist, her expression falling. The god-woman, however, seemed amused. “Sounds like your little guy is giving Crispin a hard time.”

  “Yeah, he’s not so little anymore,” Ukrah said, getting to her feet. “I’ll be out with Fior in a bit.”

  “Thanks. I’ll go feed my girl and check back in with you.”

  “Thanks,” Ukrah said, rushing past the woman and heading to where she assumed Crispin was.

  Because, of course, Voirdr apparently had some sort of non-verbal competition with the new baby to grow as fast as possible. Already, in just four months, he was about the size of a pony, with a ridiculously long tail and wide wingspan. His appetite had grown in relation to his size, yet he still acted like a giant baby more often than not.

  Crispin theorized that he was used to being the precious little one of the group, the youngest and the most spoiled, with people cooing over him all the time. But ever since Yacristjin came home, he’d had to share some of the attention.

  And apparently that was the worst thing in the world.

  “Hey, no, young man! You get the treat when you follow commands. You don’t— Give me my satchel back!”

  Ukrah finally made it out of the front to see Voirdr and Crispin standing on the lawn, the former with his long, saw-like snoot in a satchel while Crispin tried to yank it away.

  “Hey, why are you not behaving?!”

  Voirdr jerked toward her—quite an entertaining sight with a bag over his head—and trotted over, only kinda-sorta managing to shake the satchel off his face. However, the strap was thoroughly encircling him, and the bag slid down to hang against his chest, thumping as he trotted over happily.

  “Don’t come over here and act all sweet. You know you need to be nice to Crispin. He’s been with us since the beginning.”

  “That’s right!” the boy huffed. “I’m just trying to give you a foundation that’s gonna make being the king of all dragons a little more tolerable, ya know?”

  “You know that won’t necessarily happen, right?”
Ukrah asked in a low voice. “A lot of people are angry he’s even alive. I don’t think they’re going to be giving his position back anytime soon.”

  “Well, they’re definitely not going to give it back if he’s going to keep this attitude.” Crispin crossed his arms, and Ukrah tried not to stare at the corded muscle in his limbs. That was…strange.

  “You’ve hurt Mama’s feelings,” Ukrah said calmly, looking at her cheeky boy. “Apologize.”

  She was well aware that some thought the way she and Crispin were raising the dragon was a little strange, but she didn’t quite care. It worked for them, and that was that. She knew that most dragon riders were expected to be able to care for their hatchling on their own, and she supposed if push came to shove, she wouldn’t falter at having to do so, but having Crispin there to help her made things so easy. He had a knack for making sure Voirdr got his meals on a consistent schedule, and he was also pretty good at getting the stubborn little dragon to eat things he wasn’t overly fond of. If Voirdr had his way, he would eat nothing but salmon all day, every day.

  If Helena was warmth, comfort, and soothing, then Crispin definitely projected compassion, concern, and growth. Perhaps it was silly to think of such things coming from a normal human—not that Crispin could ever really be considered normal.

  Voirdr’s head sunk a little and his eyes grew half-lidded. Ukrah knew that was an intentional sort of expression considering that dragons usually used their second, clear eyelid to wet their eyes. Crispin knew it too, and after another moment of standing there with his arms crossed, he let out a sigh.

  “Alright, you’re forgiven. But the best apology is changed behavior, so let’s not do this again, shall we?”

  Voirdr chirped, a sound that was getting deeper and deeper with each day, and trotted back to where Crispin had been working with him.

  “He did that on purpose, you know,” Cassinda said, stepping out to join Ukrah while Crispin followed Voirdr.