Legend of the Inero Dragon (20 page)

If you think it's a good idea, I will ask
Father for permission. You understand him far better than anyone
else,
Jason said.

Let me lead you in. He's been in a bit of a
sour mood lately. Ever since Navi left, he hasn't been his usual
self. On the other hand, he's been insisting I spend lots of time
with Kat and make sure she's happy with me. Who knows, right?
Still, I don't want him to lash out at you since he kind of has a
tendency to do that.

I trust your wisdom.
Jason didn't
agree. His father only yelled at him one time in his entire life.
The stepmothers were another story. When it came to Lynx, he always
got off lightly. Lynx may have loved Matt more, but he was also
harsher when punishing him. No doubt because he expected greater
things, and Matt had a lot of his hardheaded nature. He needed
strict discipline. All Jason had ever needed was one disapproving
look and he corrected his errors, no lectures required. Matt, no
doubt, had a skewed perspective since he was the favorite.

After breakfast Father wants to have a
private meeting with us. That would be the perfect time to bring it
up,
Matt said.

He does?
Jason raised an eyebrow,
pausing from eating.

Yes, didn't he call you?

No.

Weird, he said he would. Then again, he may
have forgotten. He's so distracted and—

Not himself, yes. I can tell.
Jason
glanced over at his father and noticed that he was slouching. He
picked at his food, barely eating. It had been going on for a few
days. Jason didn't know if he should worry yet.

Jason barely touched his food. The nervous
knots in his stomach were starting to tie themselves tighter as his
mind wondered what this private meeting would be about. He'd never
been asked into a private meeting. He'd had time alone with his
father and brother, but it'd never been called a meeting. This
sounded like business. He cringed at the idea. Whatever his father
wanted from him, he doubted it would be something he'd actually
want to do. Maybe Lynx had forgotten or got distracted by his own
misery. Something felt wrong.

After breakfast, all of his half-brothers
stood to go about their business for the day. Usually, this was
also Jason's cue to leave as well, but as he started to stand, Matt
clamped a hand over his.

Sit.

Jason stayed put, watching as the dining hall
emptied, leaving the three of them alone. With everyone else gone,
the room felt much larger than it actually was. It also felt hollow
and uncomfortable. The smallest of movements echoed throughout.

"We can go in a moment," Lynx said as he
kicked his feet up onto the table. "I do not want to leave with the
crowd. Someone might try to take my attention away from you, then I
might never find my way back."

"Yes, Father," Jason said, poking at what
remained of his breakfast with a fork. Now his stomach was
growling, but he didn't want to resume eating. It might be
perceived as rude. The only reason he wanted to eat was because it
gave him something to do to fill the awkward space. If Matt would
start talking, it wouldn't have been quite as bad. Only the sounds
of the kitchen staff cleaning the mess could be heard.

Ten minutes passed before Lynx stood. The
brothers followed suit, then the three went straight to Lynx's
special office. He had several in the castle, each with a different
purpose. One he used when he didn't mind being disturbed by others,
another he used for military purposes, and the last one was for him
to use when he was expecting visits from his wife. They did not go
to any of these rooms. The office was across the castle from the
dining hall, tucked away into a corner. Jason had always believed
the door was a closet. The room wasn't much bigger than one.

The room was circular and around ten feet
wide. The walls were made completely of brick and the ceiling was
low. Jason felt claustrophobic. It was large enough for the three
of them to be comfortable as well as intimate. But if there had
been more visitors, he might have felt differently. Matt also
explored the room with his eyes. It must have been his first time
in there also.

"Sit wherever you please," Lynx said, making
a small gesture to the five chairs set in a circle. He then closed
the door and paced
around the room in slow
circles
. It made Jason dizzy. "What I'm about to ask from
you is not an easy thing. Matthias has already heard the request,
but I have not heard his thoughts on the matter. I decided I would
hear from both of you at the same time. Despite your youth, your
opinions are important to me."

"Your words are kind," Matt said, sitting in
the chair furthest from the door. Jason took the seat closest to
it.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"For some time now I have been working with
the Holy Prophet of God, Seth, as you know," Lynx said. "He has
provided me with much insight on a number of key things happening
amongst our people. For instance, I have seen the plots the Oceina
tribe has made against our nation. With his guidance, I have been
able to make a plan of attack to protect our people. With his
persuasion, the Terran have allied themselves with us. We have
received the information needed to create powerful weaponry and get
supplies for our troops so that we have a successful
operation."

Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise. He
hadn't expected his father to explain things so bluntly. It
explained the reports from the council and the upcoming war Navi
had spoken about. It explained just about everything outside of
why. He waited for his father to continue.

"Since before you were both born, I had been
told by my father, who was told by his father and so on down the
line, that a great prophet would come during the life of the
Touched. You both know you are Touched. What I didn't realize was
that the prophet would be someone so young. You've both seen him,
so you know what I am saying. I was told to prepare for his coming
and to have my army prepared and willing to march with me into Hell
if need be. So I began to strengthen our numbers and studied
magical infusion in our weaponry. I have always known the Oceina
were our enemy. They are naturally our weakness, but the Terran is
theirs. With our high numbers, mixed with the Earth elemental magic
being added to our armor and weapons, we will be unstoppable. The
Terran dragons themselves may still join in on the attack."

Jason didn't know how to absorb this
information. There was so much going on his head was spinning. All
he could do was stare at his father blankly.

Lynx frowned and continued. "Here is the
information Matthias is aware of. The prophet has seen many more
things. He has the ability to see into realms we could only dream
of. However, he does not have the power to do this alone. He needs
your assistance, your magic, to take his gifts to the next
level."

"How are we supposed to help him?" Jason
asked.

"There is a spell but it requires you both.
It's complicated and dangerous. It will expose your soul to the
spiritual realm. I don't know what will happen."

"I don't know what to say," Jason whispered.
He didn't like the idea of his soul being vulnerable to whatever
demons lurked about. He'd never been spiritual, but he did believe
in good and evil. He also believed both existed beyond what he
could see and touch.

"I didn't either," Matt said. "Not at first,
I mean. I've had more time to think about everything. If it will
help our people, I will do what is necessary, Father. I know we're
destined for greatness. I want to see it come to pass."

"Are you sure this is the way to go about
it?" Jason asked. He faced his brother, peering into his eyes.

Matt nodded. "Yes. Did you know the Great
Dragon will come from our bloodline?"

"I didn't." He'd studied a little on the
subject during school, but the ancient texts were difficult to
understand. "It's vaguely familiar. I never knew anything for
certain. I'd always been told the Great Dragon will be born by the
Great Sea, and most scholars believe that's in Oceina City."

"That's right, but he'll be born of Inero
blood. Don't you get what this means? That land is ours. We owe it
to the world to do the right thing."

Jason wanted to point out that he didn't
think the Great Dragon would be brought into the world through war.
His words would fall on deaf ears though. They'd never listen to
him. He was now cornered. If he disagreed, his father would make
sure Matt wore him down until he agreed to anything.

"I don't understand how the prophet is going
to help with this. What is this spell going to do?" Jason asked,
trying to keep his voice calm.

"He will see the world as God sees it," his
father said. "There is so much we could learn from this limited
window of opportunity. I have not asked you both for much,
especially you, Jason. Please know that I would not even bother you
with something so dangerous if I didn't think it necessary. You
both mean the world to me. I must protect my nation and lead it to
victory. Bringing about the Great Dragon will do this. There is a
lot we need to understand first, however. Please do this, then I
promise, you can do as you please from this day forward."

Did he know what Jason and Gwen were
planning? They hadn't been as careful as he would have liked with
their conversations in the house, but he didn't think they were
being listened in on too thoroughly. He frowned, unsure if this was
a coincidence or bait.

"I know you are a peace-loving man," Lynx
continued. "You have always hated violence and anger. You've always
been the calm one. I do not like involving you in something that
goes so strongly against your nature. I know that once we go to war
with the Oceina, you will want to be as far away from the fighting
as possible. I can't fault you for this. It's how God made you. As
much as I would like to say that war won't be necessary, I know
it's only wishful thinking. It will happen. Unless you want to be
put into battle, you need to contribute to the cause in another
way."

There's an ultimatum if I ever heard
one,
Jason thought.

It's fair. Everyone needs to do his part.
I've already put in a lot more time to this than you have. Done
things I would have rather not done. Don't be so selfish,
Matt
snapped.

I'm not trying to be selfish.

Then you're afraid. Whether you've taken
your wife to bed or not, you are still a man. Fear is a waste of a
man's time.

Jason's body stiffened and he clenched his
teeth. It was a dangerous request. If he could survive it, though,
then the pros far outweighed the cons. No matter what happened,
their country would be going to war. There was no way around it.
Maybe the prophet would see another way. There was still hope. This
could be the way for him to fix things.

"All right, I'll help perform the spell," he
said. The smile on his father's face brightened, and Matt smiled
too. All of the harshness from before now being replaced with what
looked like pride. Jason should have been happy. It wasn't often he
was so pleasing to his family, but for whatever reason he couldn't
help but stare at the floor. He felt nothing but shame.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Matt still didn't know how to tell his wife
about the ceremony. He'd been meaning to ever since the night he'd
first met with his father, but the timing always felt off. Kat was
sleeping, or not feeling well, and he hated the idea of giving her
bad news when she didn't feel well. She was sleeping again when he
came home from work.

He tried to be as quiet as possible as he
rummaged through the dresser searching for something new to wear.
Finding some comfortable pants, he started to change. Kat stirred
in the bed.

"Hey, gorgeous," she whispered.

He glanced over his shoulder at her with a
grin. "I should be saying that to
you
. Feeling okay?"

"I feel fine. I always do after nap
time."

"Nap time? Isn't it a little late for a
nap?"

"How was work?"

He sighed, taking her not-so-subtle hint that
she didn't want to talk about her sleeping habits. "It was work.
We're organizing and getting ready for everything that is to come.
There's still a lot left open too."

The army was waiting for the final demands of
the Terran to solidify the contract between the two nations. His
father said those demands wouldn't come for another three to six
months, giving Matt the task of finding an alternate plan of action
in case the Terran decided to back down. Hopefully, the ceremony
with the prophet would reveal this information. His father seemed
confident enough that the Terran would agree, regardless. Matt
hated planning with such little information.

"You're home, so now you can relax and not
think about work," Kat said.

"Yes, but—"

"No buts," she whispered, motioning for him
to come over to her.

He walked over and crawled into bed with her,
his hands going to her stomach right away.
Three to six months.
It seems like too much of a coincidence.

"Hmm?" Kat asked.

"I didn't say anything."

"But you thought something. I didn't quite
catch it."

"It's nothing of importance," he said,
running his fingers over her belly. In three to six months, his
child would be in the incubator or hatched. A child that might be a
girl.
A coincidence. Nothing more.
And he pushed all doubt
from his mind.

Chapter Forty

"You're later than I was expecting," Gwen
said as soon as she heard Jason walk into the house, hoping her
tone didn't come across as too harsh. She wasn't mad. More curious
and slightly annoyed that he wasn't home when he had said he would
be.