Dragon Frost (15 page)

The grip on Kas' sword loosened. "Have you seen her?"

"Have you not?" Kenshe asked in concern. He knew that Kas could only be talking about Sybl. "Shouldn't she be here with you?"

"She will not speak with me," Kas said, and looked at Ubi. "I miss her more than I can bear."

Ubi looked away from him and hid her face in Kenshe's black shirt.

"I need you to forgive me, Ubi. I would wait an eternity if I could, but Aster does not have that long. Your mother cannot hold Aragmoth together by herself much longer. I need to be at her side, and for that I need you to forgive me for what I did to you."

Kenshe looked around briefly as he pondered a problem he had not thought he might encounter till now. Kas could have him wandering in this limbo for as long as their bodies were alive if he wanted to.

Ubi didn't answer.

Kas reached out a careful hand and touched her forehead. She shook his frozen touch off, agitated. Moments after she did, he vanished in a swirl of shadow. Then the scenery changed again.

Kenshe looked around and found that he had been instantly brought back to Kas' room that he had given to Ubi. He sat up and looked at her as she began to wake up. He took the sword from her hands and removed his own. Setting Kas' blade in his sheathe, he put his own on the stand. He wasn't in the mood for anymore visits to the realm of death.

"Kenshe?" Ubi asked as she rubbed her eyes.

"Don't do anything stupid like that again," he said angrily and started to leave the room. "Your food is cold now, and you can eat it like that."

Ubi sat up and looked at her nightstand where a tray with water and a plate of salad sat. It was a cold-served dish to begin with. She looked at the dresser and the sword there. She could tell right away that Kenshe had taken away her father's blade. She left the room and ran down the hall after him. "Give me back my father's blade!"

Everyone around them stopped in their tracks as Kenshe turned to face the Fay. He replied with a flat-out, "No."

Ubi knew her power over his shift wouldn't work, neither would a fist fight. She looked around, forcing her will on the other shifters in the hall. They responded and turned their teeth on Kenshe, to the shock of their hosts.

"Go ahead, brat. I need to spread your blood around to the Packs, anyways. There is no one in this hallway who can kill me."

One of the guard's shifter's teeth went for Kenshe. In one swift movement he had Kas' blade in hand and slashed it across the phelan spirit's face. It reeled back in pain, and put the others into a hesitate state.

"You have no control over your power except by reflex. If you want your father's blade back that badly, I will see you in the throne room in the morning. If you prove to me that you're someone other than an idiot, you can have it back," Kenshe said.

Ubi's rage boiled over, as she could do little more than watch him turn and leave for downstairs. "I should have let them kill you!"

"Try harder next time," he shouted back. "Because at the rate you're going I'm guaranteed to die as an old phelan!"

TWENTY-ONE

Nafury was left with more time than he wanted to feel sorry for himself. The encounter with the Sentry at the Efereal Mountains had not ended well. The Sentry had proved to be the lesser of their problems as well. Xirel had succumbed to their mind control and Nafury had no choice but to kill him. Loki and himself would have been killed had he hesitated another moment.

He had flown non-stop to the Torian Continent afterwards, and he wasn't sure why. He had only managed to fly as far as the Casus Beli Canyon before his strength gave out. Nafury hadn't seen everything that had happened as Alexia took over much of the last hours. But he could still feel his claws crushing the life out of Xirel. It was all he saw now, even as his own wounds continued to bleed out onto the pink flowers around him. Nafury remained vaguely aware of something watching him from a short distance away. He wondered if he would die today, perhaps by what stalked him.
The presence crept silently closer, until two orange eyes from the face of a dragon hovered over his face. "Loki."

"What are you doing here? Ubi is the other way."

Nafury looked at the sky behind the dragon. "Why are you here?"

"I've just come to smell the flowers and visit my castle," Loki lied.

Nafury didn't have the strength left in him to endure Loki's carefree attitude. "I can't go back there and face her after what I did. "

"Xirel knew that his time was coming to an end. We can sometimes see the future too, you know? She will understand if you explain what happened," Loki insisted.

"No, she won't. This has ruined all chance of gaining forgiveness from her."

"You're just depressed and not thinking straight. Did you want me to heal those for you?" the dragon asked, looking at the wound in his shoulder.

"I'm fine."

"It's not all about you, you know? Just what would be said of me if I left you to bleed to death here?" The dragon's face retreated for a moment, and Nafury looked to his side as a green mist drifted past him. The human-like appearance of Loki stood up straight, and light green hair fell over his shoulders. The Awl's youthful eyes returned his stare. Loki had been born before him, but since he was an Awl now, he hadn't aged a day since.

The Awl didn't ask this time for permission as he sat on his knees and put a hand on Nafury's shoulder. Loki used his aeri to pull the wound together, and then did the same to Nafury's leg. Afterward, he quickly looked him over for the last wound he sensed. 

"That one doesn't heal so easily," Nafury said, guessing what Loki was looking for.

"You're not the only one with a broken heart." Loki remained determined, and set a steady hand over Nafury's chest. "We can fix that one too. But not if you give up here."

Nafury didn't pay the Awl's attempt to heal the un-healable much mind. That was until he took notice that his heartbeat had evened out. He glanced at Loki and the Awl returned a small smile.

"That will work for now."

Nafury sat up with difficultly. He guessed that he had lost more blood than he thought. As the blood drained from his head, a flashback of his claws tearing into Xirel flashed past his mind again. It was almost powerful enough to drop him back to the grass as he pressed the sides of his head.

"You should stay still for a while. You're only human."

"Thanks for reminding me," Nafury replied.

Loki brought his knees up and was content to use his stare to keep him company.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Nafury asked.

"I feel like I'm looking at a ghost when I look at you. You don't even realize yourself how much you look like her."

"I wish I could see her again, especially now," Nafury replied. He feared that Loki might try to kill him yet if he spoke anymore of Sybl.

"Well, today is your lucky day cause she's standing right there." Loki looked to the other side of Nafury and across the field.

Nafury moved so fast this time, his head felt like it would spin off of him. When he could see straight again, he looked everywhere for Sybl, but only saw Sial. The kyrie remained his ever-faithful follower. "That wasn't funny, Loki. My sister is dead," Nafury replied with a bitter tone.

"I was being serious. Look again," Loki said.

Nafury sighed but did as told, and took notice that Sial's eyes had changed color. The kyrie's were no longer purple, but the same sapphire blue as his own. "Sybl?"

She didn't reply as she walked closer to him.

"She's hurt too, you know?" Loki said, then looked at the kyrie. "Sybl, we need your guidance more than ever."

Sial turned his face to the side for a moment before looking back at them. "I was wrong."

Nafury was on his feet now when her voice came out of the kyrie. "Sister? Are you really in there?"

"I thought that we could go to Earth and uncover who is behind this madness, but I was wrong. We can't go there, and we can't stay here and wait to die."

"Do you know who is doing this?" Loki asked, getting to his feet.

"Before Xirel died, I tried to grab his Threads and keep him alive and here. But I couldn't hold onto him. Not because I didn't have the strength, but because of who was holding the other end of his Threads."

Nafury had his hands on Sial now, trying to find a way to pull her from the creature. "Who was it? Who are we fighting?"

"I'm sorry, Nafury. I didn't know. When he vanished from the realm of death, I knew he had gone to Earth. I didn't know anything of what he was thinking of doing there," Sybl said.

Nafury took a moment to put her words together. "Cirrus? You can't be serious--why would he do this?"

"It's my fault. The last thing he said to me was that he would find a way to free me. He thinks that by being what I am, and within Aragmoth, that I'm the Great Dragon's prisoner."

Loki brought his hand to the back of his neck as he tried to compile everything as well. "I had so many chances to kill that bastard, and now this..."

"You can't let him succeed," Sybl insisted. "If he disconnects me now from Aragmoth, Aster will cease to exist. All of us will return to being spirit slaves on Earth or fall into oblivion. The Great Dragon's reserve strength is long spent."

Nafury pulled his hair back and paced a few steps, before turning back to her. "Can he actually do it?"

"Nafury, listen to me. Aster comes first. You must stay here."

"Sybl, if there is a way to bring you back to the living, nothing is going to get in my way of that," Nafury said with a serious tone.

"This is beyond just you and me. Thousands of lives have to be protected. Promise me you won't go to him," Sybl pleaded.

"I can't do that," Nafury said and took a step back. "You and Cirrus are everything to me."

Sial seemed to lose his balance for a moment, before he lifted his head high again. His eyes had returned to being purple, and Sybl's presence was gone.

"No, wait!" he called to her, but it was no use. Nafury fell back to the grass at a sit, as it felt like she had cut a piece of his heart out all over again.

"The Caelestis has made her wishes known," Loki said.

"I am going to save her," Nafury replied, and looked at Loki. "Cirrus forced me to kill Xirel, so he's trying to make her appear so he can trap her. If I can save Aster as well, fine."

The Awl shifted back into his dragon form and sat down, before looking in the direction of the Falls. His long, green tail twitched back and forth in contemplation. "I owe Sybl everything I am, but we must obey her. She would not put us in harms way or methods of doing what's needed."

"You're thinking about something. What is it?" Nafury said, as he tuned into Loki's Threads.

"The Falls might know more about what's going on with Earth than we do. Their Tech has been watching it for some time. Maybe we can find a way to save Sybl and stop Cirrus without having to face off with him. But the griffin shifter who lives there is violent and mad."

"He was Kenshe's friend," Nafury said out of memory. A memory flashed past his eyes of the look Gwa had given him when he had returned from Earth. Right after Sybl had died. It was that of pure contempt. He shifted into his dragon form in a rush of white mist. "So we'll force Kenshe to get us near him. Let's try your idea," he said and looked at him. "If it doesn't work, then I will do this my way."

Loki nodded in agreement, and sprung into the air as Nafury followed.

TWENTY-TWO

Kenshe would be lying if he said that he wasn't getting a certain kick out of tormenting Ubi. She made it too easy. Her rage made her efforts to hold onto his lifelines next to impossible. With her ability to control his shift disabled, he felt like he was kicking a toddler around. He pulled the Threads to her legs, and she was flipped backwards onto her backside. Revenge was fun too. Inside he laughed as she squeaked and rubbed her sore tailbone. "I thought you wanted to kill me and take back your father's sword. I'm still waiting..."

"You go from being purrfully cute to a complete asshole often?" Ubi asked.

"You can still purr?" another phelan asked from where he sat lounging near the window.

"Shut it, Feryl," Kenshe snapped back.

Ubi used his distracted state to attack the Threads to his heart, and let out a cheer as Kenshe's eyes winced in pain.

"Nice try, but I'm not in the mood for heartburn," Kenshe replied. He retaliated by pulling Ubi's arms up and over her head, before pulling the Threads to her stomach. She keeled over, as if hit there with a punch.

Feryl was busy waiting for Prisca who sat across from him to finish eating. Their rest wouldn't last long. The Efereal Mountains was likely the Sentries' first stop on the Suzerain Continent. The Atrum would be attacked next. Every available Caller was keeping the Calls through the Threads active. They were their only early warning defence. Their sad, low-pitched song would skip a beat if the wrong creature touched the Animus Thread. It would also pinpoint where their invisible enemy was.

 Meanwhile, the males were cleaning, cooking, washing and serving. Feryl didn't mind the switch of duties much, as the downtime gave him the to fix and play with his Tech screen. There wasn't much technology left at the Atrum now. With the Falls and griffins' downfall, most Tech had become useless relics without their expertise. He looked at Prisca as her eyes gazed out the window, focused on something she heard, again. He picked up the fork and gently touched her chin, where she absent-mindedly took bite. For the other phelan, it gave them the rare opportunity to mingle with the ayame. On any other day, they were untouchable. He remembered that when Vanir had reigned over the Atrum, it was much the same. "You're just like your father," Feryl said, looking at Kenshe. "All tough and cold only on the outside."