Flameseeker (Book 3) (16 page)

Kaijin gasped from the stinging pain of the bolt.
He stared down in shock at the feathered end protruding from the hole in his
tunic. His knees buckled, and he collapsed onto the cold, damp stone of the
tunnel floor. Agony spread into his arms and head, and the view of the slimy
ceiling began to dissolve into darkness. The echoing sounds of his friends’
voices, the combat, and Miele’s frantic screeching grew farther and farther
away. Then Kaijin felt something warm on his hand. Certain it was blood, he
looked down with half-open eyes, but it wasn’t blood at all. Ranaiah’s ring was
glowing yellow, and a soothing sensation seemed to radiate up his arm, warring
with the pain in his body, pushing the bolt out of his chest. The bolt plunked
to the ground. When the soothing warmth reached Kaijin’s head, he blacked out,
but it seemed just as quickly as he closed his eyes, he awoke. Zarya’s face
appeared above Kaijin, taut with concern as she examined him. The pain in his
chest was gone, and he heard the voices of his friends all around him.

“I got that sneaky sod!” Nester announced.

“Yes, but the others are getting away!” Omari
said.

“Forget about them!” Jarial said. “We must help
Kaijin!”

Zarya ran her hand over Kaijin’s face, then rested
it over his chest. Her touch was soft and soothing.

“Zarya ...” he mumbled.

Zarya nodded and smiled. “Sit up slowly, Kaijin.”

When Kaijin did so, he felt a sudden rush of blood
to his head and his vision blurred for a moment. He waited until the sensation
passed before focusing on Zarya again. Miele channeled happiness and relief
into his mind.

He put his hand over the place on his chest and
felt the hole in his clothing. Miraculously, he felt no pain within. “Thank you
for healing me,” he said to Zarya. “I thought for sure that ...”

Zarya shook her head. “No, it was not me.” She
picked up the bolt from the ground and showed him. “I saw this go into you, but
only moments later, it dislodged.” Wrinkling her brow, she held up Kaijin’s
hand, on which Ranaiah’s ring was still glowing. “Of course. This must be the
reason.”

“The ring?” Kaijin asked, confused.

“A regenerative ring,” Jarial interjected. “A rare
and highly-coveted artifact, I might add.”

“Rare and ’ighly-coveted, eh?” Nester stroked his
sideburns.

Jarial stiffened. “Don’t even think about it,
brownie.”

Kaijin smiled again, his thoughts returning to
Ranaiah.
Thank you for this. I love you, too.

After the group gathered again, they pressed on,
following the kinlings’ distant noises.

Nester stopped before another junction, where a portcullis
was halfway lowered. Lights flickered from the room beyond, revealing stone
walls lined with wooden shelves which had books, potions, and trinkets stored
haphazardly on them. A rickety wooden cabinet sat in one corner, one of its
drawers slightly ajar. Beyond that first room was a second one, where Kaijin
could spot something glimmering atop a wooden desk.

Nester let out a gasp, and he started toward the
room, but Kaijin grabbed the brownie by the back of his jerkin before he got
too far. “Where do you think you’re going?”

Nester blinked. “Uh ... I gotta take a piss.”

Kaijin narrowed his eyes.
He’s up to something.
Then again, when is he not?
He let the brownie go and faced the others. “I
assume this is their hiding place. So do we do this the diplomatic way, or—”

“What do you think, Kaijin?” Omari interrupted,
his face hardening. “They nearly killed Aidan—and you, too! These creatures
deserve no mercy.”

Aidan growled and clenched one of his fists. “They
lied to Aidan. Liars have no honor.”

“I concur,” Jarial added with a nod. “Enough is
enough. Besides, who knows how many countless others have fallen victim to
these creatures?”

Zarya tapped her chin. “It does look like these
kinlings have been here for quite some time.”

“Indeed,” Jarial agreed. “But for a bunch of
primitive creatures, they seem strangely organized.”

Kaijin raised an eyebrow. “Do you think there’s a
greater power at work here? A mastermind?”

Zarya shrugged. “Perhaps. Maybe Nester knows
something?”

Kaijin spun back toward the brownie to find him
sneaking through the first room and nearing the room beyond. Kaijin was about
to call out to the brownie when he heard another one of Miele’s shrieks in his
mind, and he winced.
More of them near?

“Nester!” Zarya called.

“Damn it! Get back here!” Jarial barked.

Aidan shoved everyone aside. “Stay here. Aidan
will get him.” He entered the room.

The iron portcullis suddenly slammed shut behind
him. Nester dove into the next room beyond just seconds before that gate
lowered, too. Nester was out of sight.

Kaijin heard the dog-yipping sounds approaching
from behind him and his friends. He turned. Miele flew around his head,
screeching, and he noticed Percival and Sable staying low to the ground, as
though they were about to pounce. Jarial’s hands went alight with a new spell,
and Omari retrieved his staff from his back. From the darkness of the tunnels
beyond, four kinlings emerged into the light, blocking them in. The kinlings
snarled and yipped excitedly as they brandished their short swords, daggers,
and small crossbows.

Zarya unhooked her flanged mace from the thong at
her side and muttered, “They’ve been waiting for us.”

Kaijin heard the clicking of crossbows. At least
one of them was aimed at him. His necklace burned his chest, and he winced, but
then he smiled at the reassurance of the Firelord’s power. His eyes on the
archers, Kaijin began chanting a spell.

A fifth kinling emerged from behind its other four
comrades. This one looked better equipped than the others. Its leather armor
wasn’t damaged, nor was its small sword rusted. The kinling pushed its way
through its comrades and rushed at Zarya, swinging its sword.

Zarya spun out of range of the creature’s attack,
the blade narrowly missing her ribs, and swung her now-glowing mace at the
creature. The blow collided with the kinling’s back, and the creature’s body
crumpled to the ground.

In one fluid motion, Omari whipped his staff
around and pointed it at the remaining kinlings. His eyes briefly went white
and pupilless. Energy channeled down his body to his hands and into his staff.
The tip of the staff shimmered with electricity.

The kinlings scrambled backward in retreat, loosing
the bolts from their crossbows.

Kaijin’s spell incantation was interrupted when he
ducked, expecting to feel the thud and burning pain of impact again, but
instead, a spherical shield of energy encompassed the group and deflected the
bolts. The hairs on Kaijin’s arms stood on end in the electrified air, making
his arms itch, but the sensation was brief. As soon as the last crossbow
plunked to the ground, the shield dissipated as abruptly as it had been
summoned.

The kinlings stood dumbfounded for a moment, and
then one of them, who wore no armor but simple ragged clothing, advanced toward
Kaijin’s group, saying something in its native tongue. The creature’s eyes
glowed red, as did its small hands.

“You three take out the shooters,” Jarial ordered,
his eyes giving off a colorful gleam. “I will deal with this ...
amateur
.”

The kinlings fumbled to reload their crossbows.

Miele dive-bombed one of the archers, nipping at
its scaly face before soaring up and away from the kinling’s reach. The kinling
howled and dropped its weapon as it held its face. Hissing, claws extended,
Sable pounced on the kinling, knocking it down. She dug her claws into the creature’s
ribs and bit into its scaly neck. Percival ran to Sable’s aid, as the kinling
began struggling frantically. With his jaws, Percival dragged the crossbow away
from the kinling’s reach.

Kaijin focused his efforts on the remaining
archer, who began to cower away, its crossbow still aimed warily at them.
Uttering the final words of his spell, Kaijin extended his hand, and flames
leapt from his fingers. The flames grew in size and surrounded the frightened
archer. He closed his fist, and the flames, turning white, consumed the
creature. He lowered his hand, and the flames extinguished on their own,
leaving behind only ash remnants of the kinling.

Jarial summoned a glowing sphere that swirled with
all the colors of the spectrum. He hurled it at the kinling caster, but it
dissipated when it hit an invisible shield around the creature. The kinling caster’s
eyes and hands grew steadily brighter, the spell rising toward completion.

Finally, the creature unleashed a blanket of red
light over Kaijin and his group. Almost instantly, a white, sticky substance
materialized on the ground around them, encasing their legs and enveloping
Percival and Sable.

Kaijin summoned a small fireball in his hand and burned
away the white substance with it. Jarial did the same, and the two of them
helped Zarya and Omari get free.

The kinling caster snarled and prepared another
spell as it slowly began to retreat.

“Enough of this.” Jarial extended his hand toward
the caster and uttered a phrase. Suddenly, the ground around them burned, and
something emerged from within it.

Its horns appeared first, and then the creature—a
red Dragon—climbed out fully. The Dragon stood about as tall as Jarial, and its
girth filled nearly the entire width of the tunnel. Its tail lashed about and
its eyes flared as it regarded the kinling caster with great interest.

Kaijin gasped as the tail came closer to him, but
instead of getting hit by it, the tail went right through him, as though the
Dragon were a ghost. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Just an illusion.

The Dragon, however, seemed to appear very real to
the kinling, who froze in place. The Dragon stared menacingly at the creature,
then opened its jaws and spewed an inferno at them. The flames looked real, but
Kaijin felt no heat.

The caster turned pale, then collapsed from shock.

Jarial dismissed the Dragon and exhaled, looking
slightly worn. Sable returned to him, purring contentedly and rubbing herself
against his calves.

Kaijin stared at Jarial, wide-eyed. “Master! You almost
had me fooled by that thing!”

“Remember, Kaijin. Things are never what they
seem,” Jarial said, and then addressed the group as a whole. “Is everyone all
right?”

“I think so,” Kaijin said, rubbing his forehead. Zarya
closed her eyes, summoning the healing power that coursed through her. Her
entire body radiated a soft blue glow. “Yes, I will be fine,” she finally replied,
not opening her eyes. Then she began to pray.

Omari, not responding, marched over to the
caster’s body and prodded it with his staff, which continued to give off an
electrical aura. The kinling’s body remained limp. He curled his lip and
stabbed the creature through the chest, allowing the electricity to burn a hole
through it. “Good riddance,” he muttered.

Percival approached the caster’s corpse and
sniffed at it a few times, then growled.

Kaijin eyed the corpse with disgust, but as he
looked down, he noticed a bright light reflected on the floor from the locked
room where Aidan and Nester had gone. As he whirled toward the source of the light,
a deep, desperate roar shook the very walls of the tunnel.

“That sounds like Aidan!” Omari cried, lifting his
staff as if to strike.

Zarya rushed to the locked portcullis, and
everyone followed. “Oh goddess ...” she whispered.

Aidan lay helpless on the stone floor of the
locked room, trembling and bound by glowing, magical ropes. A robed stranger—another
half-Dragon—knelt beside the fallen giant and stuck a syringe into his neck.

XVI

Who are you?” Kaijin demanded of the stranger through
the portcullis.

The robed half-Dragon ignored Kaijin and emptied
the syringe’s contents into Aidan. Aidan thrashed for a moment, then went
completely still.

Zarya grabbed the bars. “Aidan!” she cried,
shaking them violently.

Another kinling, who had been standing near a desk
against a wall of the room covered with an assortment of books, parchments,
potions, odd trinkets, and alchemical apparatuses, approached the robed
stranger and retrieved the empty syringe from him. The subordinate seemed to
not notice Kaijin and his group, or perhaps it was simply unthreatened by them.

Miele screeched frantically from the ceiling.

Jarial approached the bars. “What have you done to
him?”

The stranger stood up and briefly regarded the
group with intense crimson eyes before fixing his attention on Jarial.
Smirking, he said, “Nothing for you to be concerned about. He is mine, now.”
His voice was thick with an accent that Kaijin hadn’t heard before. The
stranger’s eyes began to give off a soft, white glow, and he summoned a
translucent, magical barrier around him and Aidan.

Kaijin looked sideways at Jarial and whispered, “Aidan
isn’t moving, Master. He ... He’s—”

“Let us not jump to conclusions, Kaijin,” Omari muttered.
“We need answers, first.”

“Omari is right,” Jarial said, nodding. “And we
need to be careful about making any sudden rash actions that may further
jeopardize Aidan.”

Percival and Sable approached the bars, sniffing
them warily, then withdrew to their masters.

The stranger folded his arms within the long
sleeves of his robes and smiled, revealing a set of broken, yellowed canines. “He
is exactly who we need for our ship’s crew. Do not worry. His body has been
unharmed, but his mind has been made anew. When he awakens, he will know only
me: Vheradan.”

“How dare you force him into submission!” Zarya
yelled. “Aidan does not belong to you! You are a disgrace to your kind, to perform
such an evil act!”

Vheradan sniffed toward her and frowned. “Be silent,
Celestial. You know nothing.”

Kaijin tilted his head. “A ship? You need him for
a ship? Where are you going?”

Omari growled. “Does it matter? He has Aidan! We
must get him out of there!”

“Yes, but—”

“Where?” Vheradan interrupted. “Back to Salanis,
our home. It used to be such a simple task to go to and from the island, but
these days, it’s not often one can sail peacefully without being robbed by
pirates or attacked by giant sea creatures.” He approached the portcullis and
examined each member of the group, and then rubbed his chin.

A polished obsidian ring glinted on Vheradan’s
clawed finger. Percival suddenly squeaked and tugged at the bottom of Omari’s
robes with his teeth. Omari scowled at the weasel. “What now, Per—!” Omari
looked back toward Vheradan, gasped, and pushed himself away from the
portcullis. “That ring—where did you get it?” he demanded, aiming his staff
between the bars.

Vheradan arched his eyebrow. “This? Just a trinket
I stole from a man years ago. He was being arrogant with me, so I put him in
his place.”

Kaijin’s gaze moved from Vheradan to Omari.
What’s
so special about the ring?

Omari growled. “You ...
thief
!”

“Omari, enough. It is unwise to provoke him,”
Jarial said.

“But, Master Glace. You do not understand—”

“Your personal issues can wait. We must get Aidan
out of there safely before—”

Aidan let out a terrible cry. Everyone jumped in
surprise, including Vheradan.

Aidan jerked and spasmed on the floor, yelling in
pain and holding his face.

The veins in his chest, arms, and back became more
visible. The nubs in his back grew and extended, developing fine silver scales
that glistened in the low light. Translucent membranes unfurled and stretched
out as massive wings. He uncovered his face, revealing two silver pupilless
orbs that stared blankly toward the group.

Zarya gasped. “A ...
Aidan
?”

“Amazing,” Jarial whispered.

Omari narrowed his eyes. “Master Glace, what manner
of magic is that?”

Jarial shook his head slowly. “That isn’t magic ...
at least, not fully.”

Kaijin locked gazes with the giant. Somehow, he
sensed Aidan was still there. Beneath the creature’s pupilless gaze, Kaijin
felt a mix of sadness and pain.
It’s him.

Vheradan retreated from Aidan, inadvertently
backing himself into a wall. “Wh—What is this? No. This isn’t supposed to
happen. You’re supposed to be resting now!”

The kinling assistant rushed to the desk and
fumbled through the mass of items upon it until it uncovered a wand from under
a sheet of parchment. The kinling grabbed the wand and aimed it at Aidan,
growling nervously.

Sable hissed again and yowled.

“No, you fool!” Vheradan gestured at his
assistant. “He is not to be harmed! Put that back, now!”

The kinling reluctantly returned the wand to the
desk.

Aidan rose to his feet, then stumbled about like a
newborn fawn trying to find its legs. As Aidan turned, Kaijin spied a small
dark tattoo on the half-Dragon’s upper back, above the base of his left wing,
that he was certain he hadn’t noticed before.

“There has to be a way to open this thing.” Omari examined
the portcullis. He tilted his head against the bars, peering toward the inside
wall beside it. “I do not see anything.”

Aidan finally regained his balance, then looked at
Kaijin and his friends before turning his attention to Vheradan. His fists
clenched, and the muscles flexed in his forearms.

Vheradan gasped and slowly began sidling toward
the other closed portcullis that led to the next room. “Stand down, Aidan. I
don’t intend to hurt you,” he said, slowly inching his hand toward a small
lever that protruded from the wall beside the portcullis.

Aidan stormed over to Vheradan, grabbed his arm,
and yanked him away from the lever.

Vheradan grunted “I said s-stand down! Y-you’re
supposed to obey me!”

Aidan grabbed hold of the collar of his robes and
lifted him up off the ground. He slammed Vheradan against the wall.

The kinling barked and growled frantically,
speaking in its unusual tongue, then grabbed the wand again and pointed it at
Aidan. Ice shot from the wand toward Aidan’s back, but when it hit his skin, he
appeared to absorb it.

Kaijin blinked.
What in the ...

Aidan winced and looked over his shoulder at his assailant.
The kinling dropped the wand and cowered into a corner of the room.

“You
absorbed
the ice?” Vheradan said with
a gasp. “That means you must be a ... no. You can’t be. They were all killed
off.”

Aidan bared his fangs at the other half-Dragon. “Aidan
does not know what you are rambling about, but regardless, he will never follow
you,” he said in a voice which, unlike the rest of his body, hadn’t changed.

“Put me down, Aidan,” Vheradan said. “This is such
a momentous discovery. It all makes sense now why the formula had a strange
effect on you. You have no idea how rare—”

“No,” Aidan replied firmly. He gripped Vheradan’s
throat. Vheradan began to gag.

Kaijin noticed Zarya’s eyes glowing briefly before
returning to their normal sapphire hue. He’d seen that look on her before.
Apparently some sort of strange spell that allowed her to detect the motives of
others. It still intrigued Kaijin of how she did that. “Aidan, wait. Please
stop,” she said.

“Why should he?” Omari snapped at the priestess. “That
bastard is getting what he deserves after what he did to Aidan!”

“I do not sense any ill intentions from Vheradan.
He seems to be misguided.”

“And how do you know that?”

“Because—” Zarya paused at the sound of Aidan
grunting.

Kaijin fixed his gaze on Aidan, whose body contracted.
His grip loosened around Vheradan’s neck. His back arched, and he keeled over,
his body going into small spasms. Suddenly, he went into a violent coughing
fit. For several seconds, he coughed to the point of nearly dry-heaving, and
then, from the middle of his next big cough, a white, crystal-like liquid
substance spewed from his mouth and onto the fear-stricken Vheradan, freezing him
into a white crystalline statue.

Kaijin stared, agape.
How did he ...

Aidan looked toward the statue, eyes widened. He
backed up a few steps, then looked toward his friends.

“Aidan! Open this thing, now!” Jarial demanded.

Aidan approached their portcullis and
single-handedly lifted it up. He held it there while everyone scrambled inside
the room, then let it fall again.

Kaijin and Zarya gathered around the giant, goggling
at his new form, Jarial approached the frozen statue that was Vheradan, and
Omari and the three familiars went to the corner of the room where the lone
kinling was still cowering and whimpering.

“Aidan, do you feel okay?” Zarya asked. “Are you
hurt at all?”

Aidan regarded her and Kaijin with a blank stare,
then scratched the back of his head. “Aidan feels fine.”

“Your eyes ... Are you blind?” Kaijin asked.

Aidan shook his head. “Aidan can see just
fine—perhaps better than before.”

“Better?”

“His eyes now exhibit a trait of a very old race
of silver Dragons called the Koraseru,” Zarya explained. “According to the lore,
they went extinct over a century ago.” She perked up. “It was just like that
fanciful story that the Mistress told us. She must have sensed Aidan’s heritage
all that time.”

Aidan smiled.

“So this has been dormant in you all this time,
and it has now emerged,” Zarya continued.

After a few moments of studying the statue, Jarial
approached Aidan. Rubbing his chin, Jarial walked around the giant, studying
him. “I find all this absolutely intriguing.” He touched one of Aidan’s wings,
but Aidan cringed and shook off Jarial’s fingers. Jarial smiled apologetically,
then crossed the room to the desk.

Miele screeched in Kaijin’s mind, and he looked toward
her. Percival and Sable snarled and poised themselves, ready to strike. Miele clung
from the ceiling, prepared to dive-bomb the creature should it be foolish
enough to attempt escape. Kaijin crossed the room and approached them.

Omari aimed the tip of his lightning staff at the
kinling and inched it closer to its small chest. The kinling held its clawed
hands up in surrender.

“How do you think I should kill it?” Omari asked
Kaijin when he stood beside him.

Kaijin looked at the helpless creature and
shrugged. “Is there really a need? It’s not like it’s going to be foolish
enough to try and attack us, after what Aidan did to its master.”

“Ugh. You would rather spare this creature after
what it did to Aidan? You are a fool, Kaijin. A fool who is getting soft.”

Kaijin glared.
Soft?
“What in the hells is
that supposed to mean?”

Omari smirked. “Never mind.” His eyes glowed with
electricity. Lightning traveled from his hands down to the staff and converged
at the ornate pointed tip.

The kinling yelped like a frightened dog.

The creature’s cries made Kaijin cringe. “Wait!”
he yelled to Omari, putting his hand on his shoulder. He received a static
shock and drew his hand back.

Omari also flinched, and he dismissed his spell
and glared at Kaijin. “What do you think you are doing, Kaijin?”

“Let’s keep him around a little while longer.
Maybe Aidan can interrogate him, and we can get some answers.”

“Do you
honestly
think that ...
thing
will cooperate?”

Kaijin nodded. “If he’s smart, he would. There are
more of us than there are of him.”

Omari rolled his eyes. He pulled back his staff.
“Fine, Kaijin. We will do it your way. But if that creature so much as even
attempts to escape, he will feel ten thousand jolts.” He drew away from Kaijin
and went to the ice statue. Percival backed away from the kinling, giving it a
final warning growl before chasing after his master. Omari fiddled with one of
the statue’s fingers and broke it off. He held the frozen finger over a candle
until the ice melted, revealing an obsidian ring attached to the finger. He
took the ring and slipped it onto his own right ring finger. He held up his
hand and admired the piece of jewelry.

Kaijin watched Jarial at the desk.

Jarial found the syringe, examined it, and then
picked up one of the bottles, which contained a clear liquid. He shook it
gently and studied the substance, and then waved his hand around the top of the
bottle to draw the fumes to his nose. “This is cereoxin, a type of
mind-affecting agent.” He picked up another bottle, which was labeled ‘hemlock
extract’, and another called ‘batraphine’. “These substances are harmful to
humans in large doses, though I’m unsure which specific ones were given to Aidan.”

“Maybe this kinling would know,” Kaijin suggested.
He eyed the kinling, and the creature made strange barking noises, as though it
were speaking to Kaijin.

Kaijin wrinkled his brow.
What is it saying?
He looked back at Aidan. “Aidan? You think you can translate what it’s saying?”

Aidan approached, followed by Zarya, who remained
at his side, checking him for injuries. The kinling shuddered when the giant towered
over it.

The kinling spoke the same series of phrases; this
time, its voice quivered in Aidan’s presence.

Aidan tilted his head and blinked a few times. “Rhyzaryk
says he knows what was used to inject Aidan.”

Kaijin arched an eyebrow. “Rhrr ... zoo—what?”