He nodded, his eyes full of fire and determination. “I will take them to the Drazenloft, love. I will do whatever is needed for our people and our children.”
He kissed her then and I looked away. The moment felt too intimate to watch. My eyes drifted to Heron. He must have woken up while we were talking. I watched his eyes drifting around the cave, no recognition in them at all. Pain seared me to the core. He didn’t even realize we were his friends. He didn’t even realize I was precious to him.
Did that make him less precious to me? Did I only care about him for what he could do for me, for how he could make me feel? Or did I care about him for who he was?
It was a foolish thing to ask. I had Heron carved into my bones – figuratively. I would never let him go without a fight. Although right now, the hurt of losing my relationship with him was gutting me. I didn’t think I could go on.
“Seleska?” Bataar’s voice made my head snap around again. “We have prepared provisions for you and your friends.” His men strode in from behind him, stuffing food and blankets into Oljijum’s saddlebags. He watched them warily. “We will leave for the Drazenloft immediately.”
“My enemies,” I said hesitantly. “They’ll be looking for a key hidden here. In Ko’Torenth. I need to catch them to get my friend back – Nasataa. He’s a baby dragon. And I need to find the key before they do.”
Bataar nodded as if that was all normal, but his words were firm. “First the Drazenloft. Then we’ll follow your friend. Zin’s visions are never wrong.”
I swallowed. What would they do to Nasataa if we delayed to visit this Drazenloft? But then again – I had no idea where else to find him. Maybe this prophecy could help me find them.
“We must leave immediately,” Bataar prompted. “Can your dragon carry you? I can provide oosquer if he cannot.”
Of course, I can carry you. Besides, I am anxious to see this Drazenloft. Here. So far from the lands of Haz’drazen. It seems impossible.
“A Drazenloft doesn’t have anything to do with ... the Draven ... does it?” I asked.
Zin gasped.
“No,” Bataar said, looking at her worriedly. “It’s a dragon place.” His eyes grew wider as Zin seized his arm, shock all over her face. “What is wrong, Zin?”
Her eyes were glazed over as she clutched at him. “A dark evil. A rot in the world. The Draven come.”
“What are these Draven?” Bataar asked me.
“Enemies,” I said. My eyes wide as I watched Zin. “Long-time enemies from the other side of the world.”
“When the Manticores feet touch the sands of Kav’ai all Kava’ai trembles. All Ko’Torenth shakes,” Zin intoned. “When the soul-stealers pluck at memory, all the land cries in pain. Look to the door to the future, the door of the past, the fruit of the fight. Look to the wanderer found in the sand to open the doors at last.”
Then she blinked and her eyes returned to normal.
“Zin?” Bataar asked in a strangled voice.
“You must hurry, husband!” she said in a horrified whisper. “I will gather the people into the mountains. We will prepare together. Warn my sister and the Ko’roi. War comes to our land. A dark magic. A desperate evil.” Her eyes turned to me. “If this girl does not succeed quickly, all will be lost. And we won’t even remember what we had.”
“Won’t remember?” Bataar looked confused. Behind him, one of the oosquer crowed impatiently. His warriors were already mounted and ready, a single oosquer left unoccupied.
“They stole his memory,” Zin said, pointing a trembling hand at Heron. “Sucked it from his mind. They carry it with them.”
With them? Did that mean that there was some kind of hope of getting it back?
“Have the Magikas returned? The golems?” Bataar demanded.
“Worse,” she breathed. “Worse. And they will steal the memories from all of us if she is not fast. If she does not open the Haroc with the keys.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed him. “Hurry!”
And that was all I needed to hear. I hurried to Olfijum and mounted him, helping a bewildered Heron up behind me and strapping him in place.
“If they can steal your memories,” I whispered to him, “then we can steal them back, okay? Don’t give up.”
But the blank look he gave me told me that my words were more for myself than for him.
Chapter Eleven
I didn’t like the oosquer, I decided when we had been traveling for a few hours. They didn’t feel right to me. Olfijum felt the same way – or maybe I felt this way because Olfijum did. We were beginning to mirror each other a bit too closely as we clung together in a mix of hope and despair.
“Are you thirsty?” I asked Heron gently as we flew.
“Thank you,” he said, taking the flask from me and drinking. He still had enough of a memory to do things like that.
“Do you remember your name?” I asked.
“Name?” he sounded far away.
“You’re Heron,” I said. Ignoring Olfijum whose mind was drifting into thoughts about the Dazenloft we were going to. He seemed very suspicious of it, as if the idea was too good to be true.
“Are you important to me?” he asked me.
I tried to smile, but I could feel that my smile was hollow as the sting of his words set in. “I’m Seleska, and yes – you used to think I was important to you.”
“I can’t remember,” he said, confusion on his face.
I blinked back angry tears.
“This is Olfijum,” I said, patting the dragon’s neck. “He’s a friend of yours, too.”
Heron. Olfijum was letting me hear him speak to Heron.
Heron flinched at his mental voice.
“That hurts,” he said faintly.
“It didn’t hurt before,” I said but I couldn’t help feeling even worse when he put his hand to his head and closed his eyes. He couldn’t even speak with Olfijum? What had they done to my Heron?
His huge frame was hunched over itself, making him appear smaller and his movements which had always been confident before were hesitant and weak now. It felt like caring for a child – a stranger’s child whose behavior was mystifying.
“Your parents,” I said gently, “are Alin and Rasia in the Havenwind Isles. Do you remember them?”
He paused a long time. “No.”
I offered him an inviting smile. “And you are a blacksmith. You can see how things work at a glance. You have an amazing talent.”
After a while, he said, “I don’t remember.”
There had to be some way to caress his memories back to the surface. They had to be hidden in there somewhere. Maybe if I did something that shocked him?
I leaned in close to him, to where I could smell his familiar scent. It smelled like home. I smiled shyly, keeping his gaze held in mine and leaning just a little closer.
“Maybe this will remind you,” I whispered, leaning toward him for a kiss.
He ducked back so quickly that he almost fell from the saddle. “Ummm.”
“Sorry,” I muttered, my cheeks heating.
I wanted to curse. I wanted to rip Atura to shreds and dance on her grave. I wanted to burn the whole world with fire.
Good thing you aren’t the fire-breather then, hmmm?
But Olfijum was just as furious as I was. I could feel it in his thoughts. And worse, I had a terrible sinking feeling that if they could do this to Heron, then they were doing to Nasataa, too. I was going to lose everyone I cared about.
I’m still here. I’ll fight with you to the end.
Thanks, Olfijum.
After a moment, he added, It was a good try. Thank you.
I was still mourning in my heart when the clouds parted and something huge rose in the distance. It was like a tall, steep mountain, but it had a strange shape to it – almost as if it had been made rather than wearing into place over thousands of years like mountains did. It reminded me of a termite mound.
Very flattering.
What?
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Why would Olfijum take that observation so personally? From the sides of the mound, platforms had been built. They dotted the entire outside of it, stairways and bridges linking them one to the other and from inside the mound, a light glowed. In the darkness, lit only by the moon, it gave the mound a surreal look.
“We’ve made good time,” Bataar called from his oosquer. “A few more hours and we will be there. Remain steadfast!”
Was he saying that mound was our destination? The Drazenloft?
I can hardly believe it! A drazenloft so far north! Who would have thought?
What is it?
When a dragon decides to settle down and make more dragons, a group of males supports her in her decision. She has but one mate, but many eggs. The others who support her, agree to help raise her dragonlets. Each one adopts a dragonlet – or more than one! – to raise until the dragonlet reaches maturity. Together, they build a structure of earth and begin the process of laying and raising scores of eggs. It is a labor that will take their whole lives – a gift to all dragonkind. It is, in fact, the very beginning of a dragon city. What you see in the distance is a very new drazenloft. In time, many more mountains will form and beautiful structures will be melted into the rock as the city is born. For now, it is enough that a female and her mate and their circle of friends begin the process of hatching eggs and raising dragonlets. I have never seen such a thing outside the Lands of Haz’drazen – and even there a new drazenloft is a very rare thing.
And why, I wondered, was that our destination?
I will listen and see if I can discover the reason.
The drazenloft looked nothing like the glorious cities in the Lands of Haz’drazen, but if he was correct about it only being the beginning, then what we were seeing was like seeing a tent before a city was built. And when you considered that, this mound was very impressive.
I watched as it slowly drew closer and I hoped beyond hope that we would find what we needed there.
Chapter Twelve
We stopped for water when the drazenloft was so close that I thought it would barely be another hour before we arrived. A tiny creek ran through a canyon in the desert and the oosquer squabbled over positions next to it, as if it were not miles long.
They were not very much like dragons after all.
The sun was up, but I shivered at the chill of the morning. My underwater suit wasn’t made for the changes of cold and warmth in the desert.
Bataar strode over to us. “I have been thinking about the prophecy. Zin declared I must share my wings with you.”
I looked over at his oosquer. The strange bird had an oddly tattered look to it.
“I don’t think she meant the bird,” he said with a smile. I grinned back, glad that he was joking about it. I didn’t think we wanted to deal with one of those creatures. They seemed delicate and not nearly as intelligent as dragons.
You could be describing humans with that comment.
“You love her a lot, don’t you?” I said with a wistful look at Heron. He was filling water skins with a faraway look in his eye.
“She is the light of my life,” Bataar said seriously. “The sun of my sky, the water of my desert – ”
“How nice,” I interrupted. It was just painful to hear him going on like that. For starters, no one talked like that in usual conversation. Most people would find that level of drama embarrassing. But worse – he really meant it.
And I hadn’t realized that Heron was all those things to me until he was gone. I glanced at him. It was worse that he was still here, living, existing, here all the time but not my Heron anymore. Every expression on his face broke me.
“That’s what I was meaning to tell you,” Bataar said. “She said I had to share my wings with you. I’ve thought about it for hours. She is my wings. My love for her makes my heart soar.”
“Is that why you have a bird tattooed on your arm?” I asked, pointing to it. I wanted to talk about anything else. Anything other than his overwhelming love for his wife. It hurt too much.
“No, that was because I was marked as a Ko Bearer before the Ko’roi came and took the World of Legends as his own.” He paused. “But still, my love for Zin is what gives me wings. I think that it might be important for you to hear that. She is often absent from me in mind,” he glanced at Heron by the water. “Her prophecies are at times overwhelming and the visions she sees can steal her from me for days or weeks at a time. But she is always my Zin. I always find a way back to her.”
I nodded. Maybe he was right. Maybe my Heron was under there somewhere.
“Thank you, Bataar,” I said with a half-smile.
He smiled back. “One other thing. Try not to take the Ko’roi too seriously. He is a great hero to us. But he takes some getting used to.”
“Sure,” I agreed, a stab of worry shooting through me. How bad was this Ko’roi that Bataar felt the need to mention this?
“Nobility is seen in actions,” Bataar said seriously. “Even if it does not show in manners or attitude.”
“O – kay,” I said slowly.
“You will understand,” he said with a smile. “Let’s finish this journey. Zin will be happy that we made such good time. Perhaps with the help of the Ko’roi, we will find this friend of yours and this key before the three days are up.”
There was so much hope in his voice and again, I felt a stab of worry tinged with despair. What if I couldn’t do all that in three days? His whole world would be plunged in darkness if Zin’s prophecies were true. And then he’d be just like me with the person he loved and his baby in trouble and maybe lost forever.
“Also,” he said, “I see you are shivering. There are cloaks and light clothing in the saddlebags, packed by my people. You could put them over that ... suit?”
I laughed awkwardly. “It’s a good idea.”
I found the clothing in Olfijum’s saddlebags, pulling them on over the swimming clothes I was wearing and helped Heron dress in the same clothing. He seemed indifferent ... as always.
“Ready to leave?” Bataar called. He and the others were mounted on their oosquer again.
I coughed uncomfortably as I fastened Heron’s cloak. He didn’t even look at me, as if I was nothing but a fly buzzing around his head.
“Yes, let’s go.”
There was no point waiting here. Nothing was going to change that way.
We were in the air again in no time, a silent Heron strapped in behind me, before Olfijum spoke again.
I can hear their voices. So many of them! It feels good after so long with humans.
There are dragons ahead?
Yes! A pack of Green males with their female. She has a kind heart – Saboraak, the compassionate. And there are many dragonlets! I can’t wait to see them.
Well, at least he was in a good mood. For the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel the same way he did. To me, life was spiraling lower and lower and nothing I tried seemed to be able to fix it.
Chapter Thirteen
I didn’t know what I had expected, but it wasn’t this. For starters, the mound was much more majestic seen up close. It was so much bigger than I’d thought from far away. Each entrance was lined with pillars and arches so that the platforms were delicate flowers of stone and what I’d thought of as caves were open doors to gorgeous, polished stone rooms. Now that we were getting closer, they shone like polished gems, making me want to peek inside at the beauty.
You should give dragons more credit. You’d expect beauty from a human city, but it’s a surprise from a dragon one?
But this was only the beginnings of a dragon city!
Doesn’t mean we don’t try!
He was taking this very personally.
I’ve found friends.
That stung just a little. I’d begun to rely on him to be my friend.
I felt a burst of affection in our mental link followed by a surge of sadness.
I won’t leave you, Trouble Girl. We’ll find a way to heal H
eron or help him start over.
Gratitude filled me.
After meeting Bataar, I had expected some kind of formality. He was so formal in how he moved and spoke.
But before we arrived at the drazenloft, a group of Green Dragons poured out of the mound like a pack of dogs, leaping and spinning, flipping and whirling in the air. They circled us, excitement filling every movement they made, and around them, tiny baby dragons in every color imaginable – except for Blue – dove and swooped with them. My heart tugged inside me. They reminded me too strongly of Nasataa. My sweet baby dragon was out there somewhere, a captive of enemies. I had to get to him somehow!
My heart lurched and I was so distracted for a moment that I didn’t notice how silent Olfijum was.
Busy explaining everything.
That made sense.
We landed on one of the platforms behind Bataar’s oosquer. There were already people gathered – a woman who looked identical to Zin but without the faraway look in her eye or the pregnant belly and a man who was dressed in Dragon Rider leathers. The look in his eye was sharp and decisive. Perhaps this was the Ko’roi.
Bataar was speaking almost before he could dismount.
“I greet you, Zyla Winespring on behalf of the Kav’ai people and ask – ”
Bataar’s words were cut off as a small girl came running out from the doorway and leapt into his arms.
“Daddy! You’re back! How is Mommy? Is the baby born?”
He smiled down at her. “Greetings Xoi. I am pleased to see you again, daughter.”
She rolled her eyes. “The baby?”
“The baby is not yet born, daughter, though I will need to bring you home with me after I speak to your aunt and uncle.” He looked up at the woman he’d called Zyla. “Is the Ko’roi here, honored sister? I must speak to him – or rather, this young woman must speak to him.”
That meant the tall Dragon Rider was not this Ko’roi.
That is Nostar. He is the rider to Saboraak’s mate, Tachril.
Dragon Tide Omnibus 2) Page 11