Dragon Scales (6 page)

"It might not work," Amantea said, suddenly nervous. He wiped his palms on the front of his trousers. What if it didn't work? Would Isaia dismiss him completely?

"We'll see. You need something of hers?" Isaia asked. "We'll need to go to my home for that."

"I'll set up a portal," Amantea said. He turned to scout for something to use. They were at the edge of a field, near a forest... maybe he'd be able to find some mushrooms—

"How do you know where my home is?" Isaia demanded, grabbing Amantea's arm and pulling him around.

Amantea tried to shake his grip off, but Isaia held fast. He was probably leaving more bruises, and Amantea glared at him. "I was there! You locked me in, or do you not remember?"

"Oh," Isaia said softly, releasing Amantea's arm. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his face tiredly. "That's not my home."

Amantea rubbed the sore spot on his arm, frowning. True, there
hadn't
been a horde, and he thought he remembered Isaia saying something about it not being his home, but how was he supposed to know that hadn't been what Isaia meant? "I can't port us there. I haven't been."

"Then how will you get to my sister?" Isaia asked, narrowing his eyes suspiciously. He puffed up angrily, and Amantea thumped his chest before he could think about what a bad idea that was.

"I've been all over the lake shore!" Amantea snapped. "Where do you want me to take us?"

Isaia stared at him, his mouth slightly open. He shook his head after a second, but offered no apology. Amantea was going to dunk him in the damn lake. Maybe that would put some sense into the stubborn fool's head. Isaia's brow furrowed, making his nose wrinkle as he thought. It was cute, and Amantea hastily shoved that thought away. Isaia was frustrating and obnoxious and annoying, not cute.

Isaia's face abruptly brightened. "The house will work. I think I may have a broach of hers, something our mother gave her, a flower."

Amantea jerked guiltily, remembering the broach he'd pocketed. He slipped his fingers into his pocket, and, sure enough, there it was. Amantea sighed and pulled it out. He cringed, holding it out. "This?"

"Yes, that," Isaia said. He was, of all things, smiling. "What else did you loot from my house, magpie?"

"Nothing," Amantea said, biting his lip. Why wasn't Isaia mad at him? "I meant to put it back."

"Sure," Isaia said. He took the broach, turning it over in his hand. "So this means you can port us there from here, yes?"

"Right," Amantea said. He shifted, looking away from Isaia's face. Something about the way Isaia was smiling unsettled him, and he focused his attention on the more pressing matter: finding things to port with. "Um, I'll need fruits or mushrooms or large nuts, something to build the circle."

"All right," Isaia said. He handed Amantea the broach. "I'll head that way," he pointed off toward where the sun was rising, "and you head that way."

Amantea nodded, tucking the broach back into his pocket. He headed off in the direction Isaia indicated immediately. The sooner this was done, the sooner they could take care of Naldo, and the sooner Amantea could return to his nest and forget all about Isaia.

It took three hours to find enough mushrooms and nuts to make a circle strong enough for what Amantea was going to attempt. He might have been overdoing it; most circles only required a dozen mushrooms or whatever to anchor the portal. He'd insisted on three times that for this portal. The more anchor points, the better.

Isaia watched silently as Amantea arranged the mix of mushrooms and nuts, then went to each one and carefully threaded it with magic. He focused on the lake and on the broach, hoping fervently with each bit he casted that he was doing it right and he wasn't about to disappoint Isaia.

Once the circle was complete, Amantea stepped inside. He waved his hand at Isaia, who gingerly stepped into the circle like it might instantly send him to the other side of the world. Though, given the last time he'd been in one of Amantea's circles, he'd ended up in a pocket world in a jar...

"Um, hold this," Amantea said, shoving the broach at Isaia. "And think of your sister."

"That's it?" Isaia curled his fingers around the broach, frowning at Amantea. He didn't seem upset, though, and Amantea just nodded. He took a deep breath, and then thought the better of Isaia holding the broach.

"No, we should both hold it," Amantea said, the words tumbling out in a flustered rush. Isaia raised his eyebrows, but held out his hand, palm up, the broach resting in his huge palm. Amantea gingerly rested his hand on top, and then, before he could overthink the fact that they were almost holding hands, he activated the portal.

Porting was always as quick for Amantea as shifting; one second he was in the portal and the next he was at the anchor point. In a breath, the shock of cold, heavy water replaced the air around him and the ground beneath his feet. Amantea sucked in a shocked breath, but there was no air, only water, and he didn't know how to swim. He choked, coughing, flailing, but there was nothing but water all around him.

Amantea thrashed, panic setting in. It was too dark to see, which meant he'd put them at the bottom of the lake. Or the bottom of an ocean. His chest burned, seared, his lungs seizing with water—

Something grabbed him, and Amantea stilled out of shock. Isaia? It had to be, and Amantea wanted to yell at him to get to safety, to leave Amantea to drown like the worthless flit he had turned out to be. He didn't have the air or the energy, though, and he shuddered, fighting against the urge to breathe and cough.

Amantea barely registered when there was suddenly solid ground beneath his feet. It didn't matter. There was still water everywhere—and in the next second there wasn't, and Amantea was coughing and coughing, trying to breathe and expel the water in his lungs at the same time. He shivered hard, pressing close to the warmth Isaia offered. He'd probably be mortified later, but he didn't care right then.

It took him several minutes to calm down and stop coughing, but Isaia didn't let him go the whole time, his arms wrapped securely around Amantea. It was a good thing, Amantea thought fuzzily, because he wasn't entirely sure he could stand on his own.

"All right?" Isaia asked softly after another few minutes.

Amantea managed a nod, figuring that was Isaia's subtle way of indicating he was sick of dealing with a clingy flit. "Sorry."

"Don't be," Isaia said, letting him go. Amantea stumbled back a step, and then it finally registered they weren't on the lake shore like he'd assumed.

"Where?" Amantea asked, coughing at the end of the question. They were in some sort of cave, it appeared. Water lapped at the 'shore' behind Isaia, where they must have come in. The cave was lit dimly by some sort of weird glowing orbs—magic? Amantea wasn't sure. He was sure that Isaia had lost his scarf, and Amantea had been pressed up against him while he'd been naked, and Depths, that was nothing he needed to think about.

"Below the lake," Isaia said. "I think. The water has the same flavor."

Amantea didn't question that. "Do you think she's here?" She had to be, didn't she? They'd ported, and the portal wouldn't work unless the anchors were set. Unless it had anchored itself to 'lake' and only 'lake'.

"Yes," Isaia said, smiling again. "Come on, fl—Amantea. She's here somewhere." Amantea nodded, taking a stumbling step forward. Isaia's smile slipped. "Or you could wait here? I don't want to tax—"

"I'm fine," Amantea snapped and resolutely started forward. He wobbled more than he liked, and his chest burned like he'd flown several miles, but he walked. Or squelched, given his boots were soaked. He was soaked. Amantea shivered. The cave was freezing, and being stuck in wet clothing wasn't helping.

Isaia was quiet behind him, and Amantea resolutely didn't say anything. He could walk. They'd find Isaia's sister and then port out. Then he could have a fire, and once he was home, he'd pull an itharflower from his stash as a treat.

"What's your sister's name?" Amantea asked as they rounded a bend in the cave corridor. The lights kept going, at regular intervals, and Amantea was more convinced than ever that they were magic.

"Teria," Isaia said. "She's my half-sister, actually. We shared a mother."

Amantea nodded. He didn't know if that was normal or not, but in faerie nests, it was normal for women to have children with multiple fathers. He had three half-sisters and a half-brother in his nest. His teeth chattered, and he crossed his arms. How far into the cave did they have to go?

The question answered itself almost as soon as he thought it, as they rounded a curve and came to the end of the cave, a large, but squat chamber. It was brightly lit by a square, glowing blue cube in the center of the chamber and was also distinctly warmer, which Amantea definitely appreciated.

A woman—Teria, no doubt—was sitting on a pile of cushions, a book in her lap. There wasn't much in the chamber: a ton of cushions, which likely served as a bed, and a small crate that was flipped sideways. On top of it rested an empty plate and several books.

Teria looked up as they approached, her blue scales nearly luminescent in the light given off by the glowing cube. The color was pretty, but Amantea was partial to the red scales Isaia had. He lagged behind as Isaia made a beeline for Teria, not wanting to interfere in their reunion.

She was as tall as Isaia, almost as broad, though her skin was covered in fewer scales. She was dressed in a brightly colored wrap that twisted and turned around her before knotting at the waist. Probably easy to remove, so shifting wasn't a pain. Which reminded him that Isaia was still naked. He ducked his head and edged closer to the glowing cube. It seemed to be emitting heat, and he was more than willing to cozy up to it to try and stave off the cold sinking into his bones.

"It certainly took you long enough," Teria said. Her voice was sharp, loudly echoing in the chamber. Amantea peeked over at her and Isaia. She looked grumpy, but he supposed he would be, too. How long had she been down here? Her eyes cut over to him, and she bared her teeth. "Who's the flit?"

Amantea would've bristled, but he had almost drowned them in his attempt to port them to her. Why hadn't the portal put them in the cave? He slouched, edging closer to the warm cube.

"Teria," Isaia said sharply. "Don't call him that. He's the only reason I found you. Why didn't you swim up? The lake can't be that deep."

Teria sniffed, giving Isaia a dark look. "Where, dear brother, do you suppose I would have shifted?"

Isaia frowned, glancing around. Amantea looked too, and the ceiling was awfully short. Isaia had been much taller than him in dragon form—his smaller dragon form—so likely he and Teria couldn't shift in the cave without getting stuck. And given how long it took them to shift, shifting in the lake itself wasn't an option.

"The best I could do was send out bulbs," Teria said. She sighed, scowling at him. "Why aren't you dressed? No one wants to see your dick hanging out."

Isaia threw up his hands. "I lost my wrap in the lake. Getting here to save you. Do you have any other complaints before we get out of here?"

Teria cocked her head thoughtfully. "No, that shall suffice for now. But I am going to blister your ears about your choice in lovers as soon as we're home. And I'm telling mother, too."

Isaia winced, but he didn't argue. Teria padded barefoot over to the crate, picking up something from behind it—fabric, a pale blue, silky looking thing—and she handed it off to Isaia. "You'd best not lose that. It's one of my favorites."

"Amantea," Isaia said, making Amantea jump, startled to be addressed. "This is my sister, Teria. Teria, this is Amantea. Be nice to him."

Teria sniffed but didn't say anything. Amantea stifled a sigh, shivering again despite the warmth of the block. They could leave, if he could find portal materials. He glanced around the cavern again, but all he saw were rocks. He didn't remember seeing anything in the corridor down to this chamber either.

"We can port back to the house," Isaia was saying. "Then you can go home, Teria, and tell mother all about how I ruined your summer."

"No," Teria said sweetly, "I'm going to find Naldo and make him eat a dragon claw."

"No," Isaia said. "You're going home. I'm dealing with Naldo."

Teria raised her eyebrows, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at Isaia. If Amantea had had any doubt they were related, that look would've dissipated it. It was the exact same look Isaia had given him several times. Amantea sat down next to the cube, shuffling as close as he could stand, still freezing. He ignored it as Isaia and Teria sniped back and forth. He didn't care if neither of them dealt with Naldo. All he wanted to do was curl up somewhere warm and safe and dry and never think about being stuck at the bottom of a lake with water on all sides and no air to breathe and no way to safety.

"All right, there?" Isaia asked, dropping a hand on Amantea's shoulder.

Amantea jumped, scrambling around to look at him. He hadn't heard Isaia approach. Amantea nodded quickly. The last thing he needed was Isaia thinking he couldn't handle himself. He'd only just convinced Isaia to take him seriously. "Fine. Um. I don't know if there's anything I can port with here."