Images filled his mind then, of him and Raedea as they were so long ago, sitting up around a campfire and telling tales—but the images changed, and he saw himself becoming more intimate with her. He was himself again in the visions, and she was looking up at him, and then the scene changed, and they were betrothed. Sath shook his head as though the physical action would clear it as he struggled to let go of the orb. Next, the vision changed to Sath and Raedea mated and sat on the thrones of Qatu’anari—and Gin entered the scene as a servant, with heavy chains on her indicating her status as a prisoner.
“NO!” Sath tried to roar, but could not without his Qatu voice. “NO!” He shook his head to clear it, and yet the vision stayed put. He slammed the orb down into the bed, but it was too soft to damage it. He was heading for the wall, ready to smash it when he felt Gin’s hands around his arm, holding him fast.
“Sath! What are you doing?” She took the orb from him and returned it to her haversack before looking back at him in horror. “You were about to smash it into a million pieces!”
Sath blinked a few times and looked at her. “What? Gin—what are you talking about? What happened?”
Gin studied him for a moment. “I don’t know—I was running the bath, and when I came back to tell you it was ready, you were holding the orb as though you were ready to pitch it against the wall. Sath, you almost released the magic of Ikara.”
“That’s ridiculous. I would never have -”
“Let me have a look.” He nodded, and Gin took one of his hands in hers and closed her eyes. She moved through his memories, looking for the most recent. She saw nothing and withdrew. “That is odd. What do you remember?”
“Um, you went to take a bath, and then you came back. That’s all.” He wrinkled his forehead as he struggled to remember. “Wait—Raedea. . .Rae was here, she was talking to me.”
“It must have been the orb, Sath.” Gin squeezed his hand. “What did she say?”
Sath took her other hand and then looked at her, his teal eyes filled with worry. “She warned me that you meant to do me harm, that you had killed all your past lovers—Dorlagar and Taeben—and that I was next.” Gin tried to let go of his hands, but he held them tightly. “It’s why I was trying to get the orb away from me, I guess? She showed me pictures in my mind, Gin—of me on the throne in Qatu’anari with her at my side and -” He paused a moment to regain control of his anger.
“Wait, Sath.” She let go of him and returned to the haversack. “I can hear it humming.”
“So can I.” Sath put his hands over his ears. “It is speaking, can’t you hear it?”
“No. It’s just a hum, Sath.”
“NO.” He made a move toward her, and she backed up. “It’s saying that you won’t love me unless I stay a wood elf—it says that’s when you will kill me when I return to being Qatu.” His eyes were vacant. Gin backed up until she was up against the wall of the bedchamber, holding the haversack in front of her, her arms folded protectively over it.
Sath? Sath, listen to me. He did not answer, and she could barely feel him in the bond.
What is wrong, Nature Walker?
Omerith. Something is happening with the orb. I need help quickly.
Bring it to me. I have a place to keep it here that will be safe. I swear on the souls of the Guardians that I will not use it without your consent and assistance.
Thank you, Omerith.
Gin looked back at Sath, who had moved closer while she was distracted by the red dragon. “Sath, back up—you can’t have the orb.”
“It was right—she was right—oh, Rae, why didn’t I protect you?”
“Sath, she forgives you, I’m sure she does, but you have to focus on me. The orb is lying to you. Ikara is lying to you—to try to get you to break the orb and release his magic. Sath, you can’t have it, I won’t let you. Omerith will keep it safe.” She stood her ground and stared at him for a long moment. He did not advance nor back down but stood still as though looking at something on the wall behind her.
Sath? What’s wrong?
It’s nothing. Just having a bit of trouble shaking what Rae—what the orb told me. I don’t know why it is bothering me so much, but—I guess I’m just afraid that when I’m me again—It’s just silly.
I love you. I don’t care what you look like—you know I would never hurt you, Sath. This is like the time you were charmed and -
I trust you. I need you to believe that. Rae’s words are still in my mind, but I trust you.
Gin squeezed his hand and then moved away to secure the orb. She looked back to find Sath looking out the window.
Nature Walker, are you bringing the orb to me?
Yes, Omerith, I am merely making sure the Rajah is himself again.
“Ready to go?” He nodded and picked up his backpack. Gin swung hers onto her back, and soon they were walking down the long corridor toward the red dragon’s receiving room, hand in hand. Gin kept watching Sath as they walked, looking up at him from time to time.
“Won’t be long before they don’t fit together so well anymore,” Sath said as he looked down at their hands.
“Ssh. You and I will always fit.” Gin squeezed his hand but fought back a bit of sadness at the thought. “Always.” Suddenly Gin stopped and looked over her shoulder as she rubbed the back of her neck, then continued down the hall with Sath.
Taeben, disguised as a dragonkind soldier, faded into view after Sath and Gin passed by. He scowled and then smiled, enjoying the different features of his new half-dragon face.
Sath, you are no challenge at all. I must remember that Raedea character, that went much faster than I’d expected. If only Ginny hadn’t interrupted. . .
Twenty-Nine
Lady, Your Wizard is Showing
“Pardon me, Nature Walker?” Gin and Sath paused on the way to Omerith’s grand hall and turned to see who had called out. A female dragonkind—a sentry, by the look of her livery and light armor—was scurrying up behind them.
“Yes? How can I help you?” Gin looked up into the female’s face as she drew closer to them. “You must forgive me for staring, but your kind is fascinating to me.” The female blushed, and Gin nearly laughed with delight as her aubergine colored scales intensified in color all the way to the roots of her hair.
“To be honest, my lady, the two of you fascinate me as well. I have never met travelers such as you before. So tiny!” Gin felt Sath bristle through the bond and grinned at him.
You get used to that, Sath.
I will never, ever call you tiny again.
“You called out for my attention—I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name.”
“Apologies, Nature Walker, how rude of me.” She bowed low. “My name is Raikynth, and I am the First Caeth of -”
“That’s an Alynantaloian term.”
“Yes, Nature Walker. My ancestors were high elves, and Lord Omerith created this position for me as a way to honor them.” Gin looked up into Raikynth’s face again, and now she could see the high elf influence on her sharp nose and high forehead. “I have been sent by Lord Omerith to fetch you. Are you on your way to his grand hall now?”
“Aye, Raikynth.” Gin struggled a bit with the pronunciation of the name, and the dragonkind beamed a very toothy grin at her. “I’m sorry, I know what it is like to hear people mispronounce your name.”
“Yes, Ginolwenye of the Trees, I suppose you would,” Sath chimed in, chuckling.
“You may call me Raiky if you like, Nature Walker—it is what my siblings and my friends call me, and I should very much like it if you would as well. But not if it is too familiar.”
“Raiky it is.” Gin indicated that the dragonkind should go first, so she strode out in front of them, causing Gin and Sath to scramble to keep up with her long strides.
Yes, another thing I will never do again—bothersome short elf legs.
Gin laughed out loud and then clapped a hand over her mouth. Raikynth took no notice and continued her brea
kneck pace through the corridors. They arrived at the great hall in no time—Gin and Sath almost plowed right into the back of Raikynth as she stopped at the door to announce them. “My Lord Omerith, I have found -”
“Yes, yes, thank you Raiky, let them pass.” Gin could feel the concern from Omerith—not just through the bond but like thick air hanging in the room. To his right, sat his daughter, Daelyth. She was a bit hard to look at—the sunbeam coming in the window was reflecting off her scales and creating a light show to rival the fairies on the floor and walls.
Gin took a step backward. “How may we be of service?” she asked.
Omerith lowered his head. “Nature Walker, there is a strongroom within the fortress that will be a safe place to keep the orb if it is no longer safe within the Void. If you give it to my guard, Raikynth, she will take the orb there now. That way, you will not know where it is—and after what I saw in your mind from this morning, I think that is the best choice until the plan to use the orb is solidified. Are you both agreed?” Sath and Gin nodded, and Gin took the orb carefully out of the bag and walked over to where the First Caeth was standing. She spoke some words in Eldyr, and then Raikynth and the orb disappeared.
“Thank you, Omerith. The day will come that the orb must be used, but I wish to be far away from it until that happens.” Gin bowed her head respectfully as she spoke.
“Aye, Nature Walker, I agree, and I am not sure that any of us should be close by until that day. For now, though, it is safe.” He nodded his massive head just as his image shimmered, and he and Daelyth disappeared.
Sath chuckled, “I have got to learn to do that, Gin!” She elbowed Sath in response. Something was not right here—it was too easy. Nothing was ever that easy for them.
“Nature Walker, Rajah, would you follow me, please?” Gin nearly came out of her skin at the sound of Raikynth’s voice. How had she made it back so fast from—wherever it was that she stowed the orb?
“Of course. Come on, Sath.” He nodded, and they followed Raikynth back to the apartment where they had stayed the night before.
What are we missing, Sath?
What do you mean?
That was too easy. What are we missing?
Are you suggesting that Omerith or his daughter has been compromised? Maybe that dark elf is a sorceress, Gin. Perhaps she has an illusion that would make her appear as his daughter, or as Omerith himself?
Along those lines, but that is powerful magic, Sath—not even Ben could manage something like that. Stop growling, it may not be audible in your wood elf suit, but I can feel it in the back of my mind—and up the back of my neck.
I’m not growling, Gin.
Yes, you are, and I know why—it’s because I mentioned Ben. I know that bothers you, but seriously, you need to -
Gin, I’m not growling!
Gin’s hand flew to the back of her neck—what she thought was growling now felt like buzzing, a familiar buzzing. “No.” She rubbed her neck furiously as she jumped to her feet and paced about the room. “NO. It can’t be—no, no, no, no…”
“Gin? What’s going on?” Sath was on his feet too, trying to stop her from pacing. “Talk to me.”
“The only time I’ve ever had this uncomfortable buzzing—that I mistook for growling—was before. Sath it was before, long before!” Her eyes were wide with fear and anger as she continued to rub the back of her neck. Her skin grew red under her fingers as she pressed harder, as though she could stop the buzz if she could just get under her skin. Sath grabbed her hand and swung her around to face him, then trapped her other hand on its way up under her hair to her neck.
“Before when, Gin? What are you on about?”
Her voice was almost inaudible. “It was before—when I was with Ben.”
“Who are you?” Omerith stared down the younger and smaller dragon as he addressed her in Eldyr. “What have you done with my daughter?”
“Father, I do not understand your meaning. I am your daughter, Daelyth!”
“You cannot be. You—do not know things that you should know. Things that I have not told you. I cannot find you in the bond.”
“Father, why do you question me?” Daelyth tilted her golden head to one side and studied him. “I am here in front of you, surely we have no need for the bond now.”
“I will ask you one last time. Who are you?”
“And I will tell you the only answer I have—I am your daughter.” Daelyth turned to leave the great hall but was stopped by a flare to her left. When she looked back, she could see small puffs of smoke from Omerith’s nose. “You mean to burn me, my father?”
Omerith stared down the golden dragon. “I have not dismissed you yet. But daughter, it seems that you are ready to retaliate in kind, are you not?” He looked pointedly at her abdomen, which was glowing a steady amber, growing more and more discernible by the moment against her golden scales.
“I would hope that you do not push me to that point, father.”
“Get out of my sight. You are dismissed.” Omerith turned away from her and held still as he heard her footsteps leaving the room. He took a moment to search for her again in the bond and found nothing—except for a very agitated and worried Nature Walker.
Ginolwenye of the Trees, it is worse than I feared.
Omerith! What has happened?
The dragon that you saw here with me, my daughter. . . is. . .not herself.
Who is she?
The body is that of Daelyth, but the mind. . .This I know not, but she is not my daughter.
Apologies, my lord, but how can you be certain?
Because Nature Walker, my daughter, only the second frost dragon born on Orana since the emergence of the Mother Dragon, just tried to fill her belly with fire to launch in my direction. That is how I am certain.
Thirty
Secrets Have a Way of Catching on Fire
Ellie didn’t know how long it had been since she had been thrown into the prison in the back of her own mind. There was no passage of time there, no day or night. There was only her, and the darkness. “Taeben!” she screamed, but there was no answer. Every so often she could see glimpses of the world outside of her mind, but for the most part they were flashes that Taeben was letting her see. Those images were as real to her as anything that had really happened, and to keep herself entertained she began stringing them together, calling them up in her mind in the order she first saw them until a new one was added. Most of the images made no sense, but once she started to pay attention to them in order, she began seeing a pattern.
Taeben let her see the Nature Walker and the Rajah—still in disguise—going to speak to the red dragon. Somehow Taeben was standing next to the dragon, and Omerith did not look as massive as she had expected—certainly not as colossal as the Mother Dragon had been. There was a pause—that was the only way she could explain the gaps in what she saw. The red dragon, even smaller than before, was talking to him. The next vision was a clear view of the red dragon, and she got the impression that he was angry. Without being able to hear the dialogue, Ellie couldn’t be sure, but she could almost—ALMOST—feel Taeben’s anger mixed with a heady bit of fear. But Taeben had never been afraid of anything—that was new. There was a sensation of heat that accompanied the fear, and then it was all gone.
Maybe she should stop screaming and just call out to him like she used to do? Perhaps, if she did that, he would remember that she was there, and -
Elspethe. What do you know of the red dragon and his brood?
You remembered I was here.
It has been one day, settle down—I do remember being in an incorporeal state doesn’t help gauge the passage of time.
You came back for me!
Sort of. Now then, as I have already asked, what do you know of the red dragon and his brood? Do not make me ask you again. You have walled up your memories, and I distinctly told you to open your mind to me, did I not?
Yes, but -
RED DRAGON AND HIS BROOD!
A white dragon? Could she be a frost dragon?
It is possible. I did not have a chance to finish my research, but the most I have found is that Omerith simply discovered her north of the dwarven caves. She may have emerged at the same time as Lord Taanyth. There seems to be no one that knows but Andyth herself. However, it is not recorded that there has ever been a frost dragon other than Kalinth, Omerith’s brood-mate.
But it is possible.
Ellie wasn’t sure how, but she could feel him coming closer to her—to wherever she had been imprisoned—and then suddenly he was there, close enough that she could almost see his face. He was angry now, no fear—angry at himself.
How could I have missed that? I pulled you from your research too soon.
Taeben, are you searching for a frost dragon?
No, my dark flower, I seem to have already found one—what did your research tell you about Daelyth, Omerith’s daughter?
She is gold of scale and has been kept hidden since her birth. She was a miracle. It was not thought that any dragon other than Kaerinth herself could produce offspring anymore, so Daelyth was quite a surprise for Omerith and Andyth.
That’s lovely, but not helpful. Frost or fire, Elspethe?
Ellie steeled herself for his anger. There was no record, Taeben.
I think I liked it better when you called me A’chrya.
He was moving away. This felt like the last chance. You don’t have to leave me here, A’chrya! I can help you! Please, let me help you!
I’m listening.
I can open up the part of my mind that I keep hidden from you. I can give you access to my journals and my research. But please, please do not leave me here in this darkness alone.
I will think it over. And with that, Taeben was gone. Ellie pulled her knees up to her chest and rocked as she had done when she was a small child until she finally dozed off.
Darkness: A Guardians of Orana Novel Page 26