Dragon Blood 5: Mage (13 page)

Jasper cornered Amber while Ronan’s Golds were getting everyone ready. They’d already put Amos and Lydia in one of the rooms so no one would know they were there.
“How do we know we can trust that Ronan’s been telling us the truth? The Hell Hounds could be something he’s made up for some other plan he’s got.”

“You’re not the only one worried about that.”
But strangely, she wasn’t one of them.
“I’ll figure something out so everyone knows it’s the truth.”

“He sounds sincere, but then he always does.”

“Yeah, but I really think he’s telling the truth this time. The complete truth with no hidden motives.”

“He’s never struck me as the hero out to save the world.”
Jasper continued to look sceptical.

Amber couldn’t blame him.
“He’s not. And I don’t think that’s why he’s doing it. He was basically told he was wrong. I think he kind of feels satisfied he was proven right and he’ll be the one to come up with the solution.”

“That sounds more like him.”
Jasper glanced towards Ronan when Anrai brought him a wooden box, the energy of a Pliethin emanating from it.
“I still want to know for sure that this isn’t all some cover up for another plan he has.”

“Okay. I’ll figure something out.”
She just wasn’t sure how, but she was sure to work it out eventually. She stared at the box Ronan held, guessing there had to be more than one Pliethin with the amount of energy she could sense.

Ronan gestured for them to join him and they crossed the room to stand behind him. Kade and Rian were beside them, Daray and Maira at their backs. Brann had been left at Temolae Keep to watch over it while the rest of them were away. Kade hadn’t wanted to leave only Flinn behind. Amber didn’t blame him.

Ronan’s back was to them, the box with the Pliethins under one arm as he faced the humans waiting to become mages. They stood in rows as Ronan’s warriors walked amongst them, blindfolding them. Amber wondered if anyone was dealing with Amos and Lydia. Mentally searching the area around them, she found Hound, one of Ronan’s sons with them. There was a Pliethin in there and she guessed Lydia and Amos were about to take its energy. Her attention was dragged back by Ronan speaking.

“I will personally kill any of you who remove your blindfolds.” Several people twittered nervously at Ronan’s words.

Amber hoped they’d taken her warnings, about upsetting Ronan, seriously. Once everyone was blindfolded, Golds went amongst them pricking their fingers and squeezing drops of blood from their own fingers into the wounds. Amber held her breath as she watched Alsandair go first to her mother, then Gary. Cooper, Miles and Elliot all stood to the side of Donna and Gary. Amber had been surprised when Miles had come to her earlier and said he wanted to be turned into a proper Dragon Mage. He’d warned her that it didn’t mean he’d help her, but she hoped he would. There were so many places she couldn’t search inside, like the Knight’s headquarters. His talent would be very handy for places like that.

Once everyone had been given Gold Dragon blood, Ronan sent the dragons from the room, including Daray. He turned to face Amber, Kade, Rian and Maira, holding the box of Pliethins out to Rian. He opened the box slightly and Rian slid his hand in, bringing out a Pliethin, a feather in his other hand. She noticed Rian wore gloves.

As Rian moved away, Ronan held the box out to Kade next and then to Maira. Each removed a Pliethin before crossing the room to the blindfolded humans, a goshawk feather in their hands. Ronan brought the box to Amber last, keeping the lid closed as he stood in front of her.

She held his gaze, waiting for him to speak. He remained silent.
“What do you want, Ronan?”

“You will have two weeks to train the new mages. Don’t waste it.”
Ronan open the box slightly.

Amber held his gaze as she slid a hand inside, steeling herself against the stinging sensation as she took the Pliethin. It was more powerful than the caged one she had at home. She wanted to argue that two weeks wasn’t enough, but could tell from Ronan’s hard expression that she’d be wasting her breath. Instead she nodded and strode towards her mother, drawing a feather from her pocket.

Once everyone had held the Pliethins, they returned them to Ronan who put the half worn Pliethins back into the box. He gave the box to Rian who, with a nod, took it and strode towards the room Cooper and Miles had once been held in.

Amber watched him go, hoping he’d be fine. She remembered the night Kade had held a Pliethin and how he’d been completely unaware of his surroundings. She glanced towards Kade.
“Take care of my family.”
At his nod, she hurried after Rian.
“Let me help you.”

About to close the door, Rian opened it further stepping out of the way so she could follow him into the room. “It is not necessary.”

Amber smiled. “Isn’t that usually my line?” She wished Crystal could had been here for him, but Flinn had complained and Crystal had said that she was sure there was nothing she’d miss out on. It looked like Crystal was wrong.

Rian grinned fleetingly and nodded. “Usually.” He closed the door behind them. He handed the box over to her and removed his gloves, dropping them onto the floor. He took one of the Pliethins from the box before he strode to the middle of the small room.

Amber watched as he became a dragon, drawing the energy from the half spent Pliethin. As it lost its glowing energy, she hurried forward with another Pliethin, exchanging it for the spent one. She remembered how Kade had thanked his Pliethin and did the same before letting it go. The Pliethin vanished from the room.

Once all four Pliethins had been drained, Rian collapsed forward onto the ground, turning human. Amber knelt in front of him, reaching out to check he was okay.

“I am fine.” He brushed her hand away as he struggled to sit.

She eyed him, trying to see any changes.
“Why did you use the half worn Pliethins? Will that make it less likely to work?”

Rian shook his head.
“It was kinder to drain them so they could more easily return to their own world.”

“How long before we know if this will work?”

Rian shrugged.
“I do not know. I do not know if it will work.”

“How do you feel?”
She looked him over again.

An exhausted smile slowly formed
. “Like I could sleep for a week.”

“Is that normal?”

He nodded.

“Then maybe it is working.”

“Maybe. But there are several more days of this to be sure it does.”

“I know it’ll work. Watching you was like watching Kade with the Pliethin. And Flinn.”

Rian nodded, struggling to his feet.
“You can return to your family now.”
He gestured towards the door.

“Are you coming out?”

“Soon.”

Amber stared at him, still unable to see any changes.
“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Yes. I will be out in a minute.”

Amber watched him a moment longer before she nodded and headed for the door. Outside the room the humans were talking amongst themselves. Her eyes were drawn to her mother who was talking and laughing with Roger, the five humans he’d brought with him nearby. Gary was talking to Miles, who regularly nodded, while Cooper seemed to have appointed himself as Miles’ protector and stood beside him.

Angela broke away from her group of friends, hurrying over to Amber. “I don’t feel any different. Am I meant to?”

“No, not yet. Give it a bit of time.”

“How much time? I mean days? Weeks?”

Amber grinned. “Not that long. By morning you should notice some differences. Possibly sooner.” She probably wouldn’t have noticed quite so quickly if she hadn’t been trying to escape a wyvern.

Angela threw her arms around her, holding her tight. “I keep thinking this is a dream. This is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me.”

“Yeah, I know,” Amber said before she spoke directly to Daray who she sensed was headed towards her.
“I’m fine.”

Daray continued to cross the room towards her.
“I will make sure you remain that way.”
Amber drew away from Angela, shaking her head a couple of times as she sent a look to Daray who stopped at her shoulder before she turned back to Angela. “You’ll have a fortnight to train before things start to get interesting.”

“Interesting? I thought things were already interesting,” Angela said.

Kade joined them. “She’s talking about war.”

“I’m talking about Hell Hounds,” Amber said.

Kade shrugged. “Same thing.”

Angela glanced around. “Where’s Crystal?”

“Ronan wouldn’t let Flinn be here so Flinn wouldn’t let Crystal be here without him,” Amber said.

“He owns her?” Angela asked.

“He wishes.” Amber glanced towards Rian who came out of the room, closing the door behind him. “Crystal decided it wasn’t worth the argument. Not like she doesn’t know how it’s done, or Flinn for that matter.” She shrugged. “But Ronan didn’t want too many here.” Or people who’d wonder what Rian was up to.

“So when do I get to see your Castle?” Angela asked

“Soon. Once we sort out the training schedule and who else is coming to the Castle,” Amber said.

Rian reached her side. “I will take care of that if you wish to leave now.”

Amber nodded. “I have to talk to my mum first.” She crossed the room, Daray at her shoulder, leaving Kade and Rian with Angela. She came to a stop beside her mother, waiting for her to finish speaking to Roger. “We’re headed back to the castle, did you want to come?” Amber glanced towards Roger. “You’re welcome to visit if you want.”

“Thank you,” Roger said. “I’ve invited Donna to stay with me for a couple of weeks so we can get to know each other again.”

Amber started to protest. Before she had a chance, Daray spoke. “She needs to meet her Gold Warrior and get to know her warrior before she spends time visiting you.”

“I’m not about to be a warrior or fighter or anything like that,” Donna said.

“It’s all about protection and learning self defence,” Daray said.

Gary joined them. “That is the most logical decision. It is after all why we chose to become Dragon Mages in the first place.” He turned to Roger with a smile. “I’m sure even you will be spending a lot of time over the next couple of weeks becoming accustomed to your new skills.”

Roger nodded. “Yes of course. I hadn’t thought of that.” He smiled ruefully. “It’s taken so long to be released from my promise that I was being impatient. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of time to get to know each other again.”

Goodbyes were soon made and Amber and Kade returned to Temolae Keep with Angela and her friends. Donna and Gary chose to return to their own place and Rian remained behind to organise training schedules. Amber had no idea what Ronan planned to do since he left before everyone else, telling no one of his plans.

Back at the castle Amber had one of the servants show everyone around while several more prepared rooms. Amber and Kade retreated to their own room where Amber’s eyes were drawn to the two Pliethins hanging on the curtain rod. One on either side of the window.

“We should see if Maira and Brann can use the Pliethins to travel through the Void.”

Kade nodded “I was thinking about suggesting that when we had a spare moment.” He grinned. “Things haven’t stopped being crazy since you returned, so I doubt we’ll find one.”

“That’s not my fault. You dragons and the Knights are the ones who cause all the craziness.”

“Yeah, but you were nearly a Knight. Maybe crazy was already in your genes.”

She crossed the room to slide her arms around his waist, meeting his gaze. “I’m glad I’m not.”

Kade wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. “I’m glad too.” His lips met hers as his arms tightened around her.

The next two weeks passed quickly. As they approached the end of the time Ronan had allowed them, Amber worried the mages wouldn’t be ready. Even she had been given a lot more than two weeks to prepare for her first battle. Angela and her friends remained at the castle and Crystal convinced Flinn to help train them. Amber was surprised before the two weeks ended that somehow Flinn agreed to have Angela for his mage instead of Crystal. He seemed to get along a lot better with her than he had with Crystal. Even though she was worried about how Angela would cope with Flinn, she was glad that Crystal would have Rian for her Gold Warrior.

When Rian had told her that the experiment had worked, she’d grinned. “I guess this means you’ll finally have to stop being my first warrior.”

“We will see.”

She had laughed, not really having expected any other answer.

Amber had suggested to Kade that they use the same technique for Maira and Brann.

Kade had shaken his head “We’d have no way to explain it and once everyone figured out how it was done, not a single Gold would be safe. Every warrior would be hunting them down for their hearts.”

That was the last thing she wanted. The life of a Gold Warrior was dangerous enough without that.

Charles had taken over as High Protector of the Brisbane headquarters and Roy had returned to the headquarters, but kept in touch with Amber. He told her there was fighting and distrust amongst all the Knights since they had seen the recording, including the ones overseas.

The evening before the two weeks were up, Amber sensed Ronan arrive in the planning room. Letting Kade know, she used the Pliethin she’d taken to hanging at her belt, to travel through the Void to the planning room. Kade stepped out of the Void and into the planning room to stand beside her.

Ronan was seated on the edge of the table, waiting for them. “Not bad timing. Are you able to respond as quickly to anyone who enters the castle, or is only to those you have ties to.”

“Anyone.” Rian had been making her practice, but she wasn’t about to tell Ronan that. He’d probably somehow see the accomplishment as all due to him. “Are you here to talk about attacking the Knight Mages?”

“Something like that.”

“Exactly why are you here then?”

“I need you to come and have a look at something with me.” Ronan stepped away from the table.

Kade took hold of Amber’s hand.
“You don’t have to go with him.”

“I know.”
Her gaze remained on Ronan. “Is this to do with the Hell Hounds?”

“Yes.”

She turned to Kade with a smile.
“I’ll be fine. He’s not about to get me killed.”

Kade drew her close, kissing her before he let her go.
“Get out of there if you run into trouble.”
His eyes momentarily dropped to the Pliethin.
“Don’t stick around if it’s more than you can handle.”

Letting go of him, Amber nodded before she turned to Ronan, holding out her hand. He took it, taking them to his family crypt before letting her hand go. “This doesn’t look like anything to do with the Hell Hounds.”

“Learn this pathway. It’s a safe location. More safe than your planning room. But be quick about it because you can’t remain in the Void in here so the moment you enter it, you’ll be thrown out of it if you don’t immediately shift elsewhere.”

“Where do you want me to shift to?”

“Back out of the Void. It’s less painful coming out of the Void yourself than to be thrown out of it.”

Amber nodded, pressing her fingers against her Pliethin before she entered the Void, stepping straight back out of it as she fought against being pushed from it. “Well that wasn’t pleasant.”

“It wasn’t meant to be.” Ronan held out his hand to her again.

She didn’t take it. “Why?”

“You’re going to have to explain yourself a little better than that if you’re expecting an answer.”

“Why do you want me to have access to the crypt?”

Ronan held her gaze for nearly a minute. “You’re not the only one who will have access.”

“Who else?”

“Rian.”

“What about Kade?”

“You’re not to show anyone else the pathway to here. I will kill them, no matter who they are to you. You bring them here and you’re asking me to kill them. Understand?”

She could tell by the tone of his voice exactly how serious he was. “Yes.” She relaxed slightly when the hard look left his eyes. “Was this all you wanted to show me?”

“No.” Ronan took hold of her hand, taking her through the Void again. They came out in a shallow gully partway up a rocky hillside.

Amber automatically searched for Kade. “We’re in a different country?”

“Quiet.”

“Are we? In a different country?”

“Yes.”

“What are we doing here?”

“This is as close as we can get to where the binding is done. I need you to see if you can find out how many are guarding the place.”

“Where are we?”

“Can you focus for once? They regularly patrol this area, at random intervals. Now can you tell me who is around here?”

“Not if they’re in the Void. You should have brought Crystal.”

“Amber.”

She could almost hear the growl in his thoughts.
“Okay. Fine. Give me a minute.”
She’d been mentally searching the area ever since they’d arrived, but now she tried a more focused search. She couldn’t get any better results. It was like they were the only ones here. Throughout the area she found blank spaces, which she guessed were areas protected from her ability to search. As well as numerous little pockets, there was one large area. Even her better than average ability to see in the dark didn’t show any more than her mental search had shown.
“There are too many blank spots I can’t search.”

“You need to convince Miles to have a look. Otherwise we’re going in there blind.”

“I’ll try.”

“Do you want to take Kade, Crystal and Rian in there without knowing what they’re going to face?”

“Of course not. I already said I’d try.”

“Don’t try. Convince.”

Before Amber could say anything else, Ronan took her through the Void to the planning room at Temolae keep. Kade and Rian were sitting at the table, obviously waiting for her. She turned to Ronan with a glare, grabbing hold of his hand when he let go. “Stop doing that.”

“Call me as soon as he agrees. No matter the hour.” Ronan tugged away from her grip and disappeared.

Amber growled, staring at the spot where he’d been. “Bloody dragons.”

Rising to his feet, Kade chuckled. “I guess there wasn’t too much danger wherever he took you. Not with the mood you’re in.”

“No. Not really.” She frowned. “At least I guess not. He took me near where the binding has been done.”

“You don’t think that was dangerous?” Kade slowly shook his head. “No wonder I worry about you.”

“There was no need to. I was fine.” Amber suddenly realised that even though Ronan had given her a chance to learn the pathway to his crypt, he hadn’t given her a chance to learn the one to where the binding was done. Her gaze narrowed. It was the first thing she was going to do the next time she returned there, regardless of what he wanted. There was no point in being able to walk the Void if she had no pathways to travel. She headed for the door.

“Where are you going?” Kade asked

“To talk to Miles.” She flung open the door and stepped into the hallway since she found it difficult to enter the Void from the planning room. Finally locating Miles, she used the Void to bring herself to his room, where he was lying on the bed reading. He jumped to his feet, his book falling to the floor, his hands raised as if to attack.

When his eyes focused on her, he lowered his hands. “What do you want?”

“Your help.”

“Are my choices help or be kicked out?”

Amber shook her head. “No, nothing like that.” She held his gaze a moment before she continued to speak “I won’t lie to you. It’s a dangerous area we need to search, but if you help we’ll have a better idea of what we have to face and can prepare for it. It will improve our chances of survival.”

“If I don’t and someone dies, are you saying it’ll be my fault?”

She wanted to say yes, but instead she shook her head. She sensed Cooper walking down the hallway before he entered the room. “Did you want something?”

Cooper looked between Amber and Miles, an uncomfortable expression on his face.

Amber shook her head, turning to Miles. “You didn’t have to call him. I’m not about to force you.”

“What’s going on?” Cooper asked.

Amber explained what she’d already said to Miles.

Cooper swallowed visibly. “I’ll go with you when you attack there.”

“I thought you’d be on my side,” Miles said.

“I am, but that also means we need to be on Amber’s side. She’s the only one who’s tried to protect us,” Cooper said.

“I just want to be left alone.” Miles sat heavily on the edge of his bed, dropping his head into his hands. “Completely alone.”

She knew that feeling. Had once thought that was what she’d wanted. “I’m sorry, but I had to ask you. Had to see if you’d help us out. I didn’t want to take my people in there blindly without first making certain you couldn’t help.” She turned away, headed for the door, not sure that she’d be able to travel through the Void with the disappointment and worry she battled.

“Where are you going?” Miles asked.

She stopped, her hand on the doorhandle, and looked over her shoulder. “Leaving you alone.”

“But-” Miles frowned, rising to his feet, glancing towards Cooper. “I mean-”

She waited, but he remained silent. “Spit it out, Miles. I don’t have all night.”

“That’s it? You’re not going to make me?”

Letting go of the handle, she turned to face him. “Is that what you want? Someone to tell you what you have to do? Because that’s not me. I want you to help. I would like you to tell me what we’ll face when we go in there. But that has to be your choice. You have to want to be there, have to be willing to take the risk and fight at my side if something goes wrong. Otherwise you’re useless to me.” When he continued to stand there, staring at her, she guessed he was out of questions. “Goodnight.” Again she turned away, this time getting the door open before he spoke.

“I’ll do it.”

She faced him. “What?”

“I’ll do it.”

“You’ll go with us and search the area.”

He nodded.

“Now.” At least she guessed Ronan would want to go immediately. Otherwise why would he have asked to know the moment Miles agreed?

Fear crossed his face and he glanced towards Cooper before meeting Amber’s gaze. “Right this minute?”

“Not quite. Half an hour or so. As soon as everyone is ready.”

Miles swallowed visibly. “Okay.”

“I’ll let Ronan know.” She held his gaze a minute longer, giving him a chance to change his mind. When he remained silent, she stepped into the hallway, heading for her room, ringing Ronan as she walked.

“That was quick, even for you.”

Amber laughed at his greeting.

“What did you threaten him with?”

“I doubt you’d believe me.” She hung up the phone when she sensed Ronan appear in the planning room. Pushing her fingers into the cage, she focused on travelling there through the Void. She still couldn’t manage without entering the Void first.

“Try me,” Ronan said when she appeared in front of him.

“Well, I suppose you could say I threatened him with leaving him alone.”

“Solitary confinement?”

Grinning, she shook her head. “He wanted to be left alone, so I agreed. He changed his mind.”

“I doubt you humans will ever make sense to me.”

“That’s not surprising since we don’t make sense to ourselves half the time either.” She paused. “Who are we taking with us?”

“Rian, Crystal since he wasn’t willing to leave her behind, and probably Kade since you’re likely to be difficult about leaving him behind and Miles.”

Amber nodded. “Cooper wants to go too.”

“It’s not a sight seeing expedition.”

“I know. But if Cooper wants to go and keep an eye on Miles, then he goes too.”

“I’m trying to keep the group small so that hopefully we aren’t noticed.”

“What if they spot us and there are too many people there for us to handle?”

“We get out of there and come back with an army.”

She hesitated, not sure she really wanted to know the answer. “And what happens if we find out there’s only a small amount of people there?”

“We take them and the place.”

Her heart felt like it skipped a beat and she fought to keep her expression neutral. “You said we had two weeks. It’s not Saturday yet.”

“Do you want to wait the half hour until it is?”

“No.” She could do this. Hadn’t she survived numerous battles already? “Let’s get organised then.”

“I’ll take Rian then Crystal there and be back for the rest of you. Have them ready and waiting here for me.”

Ronan disappeared into the Void before she could speak and she sensed him appear near Rian and Crystal before disappearing with Rian. She sighed. He hadn’t given her much time.

She soon found it was enough. Cooper and Miles stepped into the planning room just before Ronan returned from taking Crystal, Kade having come straight to her when she’d called him. Cooper insisted he’d go before Miles and Amber went last, not wanting to chance Ronan leaving anyone behind. As soon as she arrived, she entered the Void and came straight back out again.