Web Of Bones: Book II of the Dragon Mage Series (7 page)

Until she had to deal with her young siblings’ reaction to her journey, Melly had not considered how they would fight to be included.

“
It’s stupid!” Rhune yelled, stomping in high dungeon through her doors as she packed. “Why do you get to go and I have to stay here?”

“
This is my fight, little brother, and you are too young for such a journey, regardless.”

“
How can I be too young to go somewhere I’ve already been?”

Despite her brother
’s dramatics, or perhaps because of them, Melly smiled. “I am going to miss you, little man.” She folded a few more dresses and the only trousers she owned. It was simple garb—easy to layer for the cold nights but cool enough for the desert sun should they venture that far south. “Promise me you won’t get into too much trouble while I’m gone.”

“
I’m going with you.” His voice had lost much of its bluster, and instead turned forlorn. Melly buckled her bag closed and turned to sit on the bed. She held up her arms and he jumped into them, wrapping his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist. He had always been so skinny and small for his age, but now he was always eating and growing tall with it, though most of the height seemed to be leg.

“
I don’t suppose you could promise not to grow anymore until I get back?” she asked with a squeeze. “I’d hate to come looking for my little man and find a tall dragon mage in his place. You are the only one around here I don’t have to crick my neck to look at.”

“I don’t want you to go back there. Not without me.” Rhune buried his head in her neck. “If I go, I can protect you.”

“
I need you to stay here and look after Clare. You know how serious and moody she can get if you don’t remind her to have fun occasionally.”

“
Morgan can do that. I’m going to look after you.”

“
As much as I would value your counsel on this quest, little man, you have to stay here and start your healer training.”

“
But, why does it have to be you?”

She interrupted him before he could say more.
She pulled him up so she could look into his worried face.

“
This is a journey I must take.” The wind swirled around them, ruffling their hair in a warm current. Melly tilted her head and listened to the whispers while her eyes remained on her brother. “You will have your own quest one day, and then it will be my turn to worry.”

He scrunched his little face up, his eyes so very serious for his age.
“I’ll let you come on my quest, if I can come on yours,” he bargained, making her laugh while the wind bounced joyously around them.

“
That is quite the offer, but I must decline for both our sakes. A quest is not something you should play with.”

“
What if you are hurt and need healing? Or the humans find out you are a mage and try to burn you? Or the blood mages try to eat you again?” His face was so earnest that she wondered if she was going to make it through this good-bye without crying after all.

Melly sighed
and hugged him close again. Her voice softened. “I know what you fear, little man, and I would not belittle that by brushing it aside and telling you not to worry. We have all seen too much not to fear what is beyond Dracon. But I will not be alone. Eben and Ladon are insisting I take four dragons along with me, purely for my protection, and one of them is General Solan, Commander of the Dragon Knights. I could not be better protected.”

“
You could. Five dragons is better than four,” he mumbled, his arms tight around her neck.

“
I will miss you too, Rhune,” she said, snuggling him in closer.

A sound at the door had Melly looking up into wet green eyes.
Clare was quiet as she watched them. Clearly she had been crying but she was doing her best to pretend she wasn’t upset. Inwardly Melly sighed. This was long overdue. “Rhune, can you go down and make sure the dragons remembered to pack some food for me? You know how they forget a mage is not a dragon, and we cannot magically produce whatever we want out of thin air.”

He wiggled down, and started running, his voice trailing loudly behind him as he passed Clare at the door.
“I’ll make sure you get sweets, too,” he bellowed, on a mission. It made Melisande smile. Then she looked at Clare and patted the bed beside her. Clare pressed her lips together, then grudgingly came forward, and took the seat.

“
I have been unfair to you, Clare,” Melly said. She watched the surprise float across her sister’s face. “You are old enough to know what is happening and I have not respected that, or you.” Melly took the hands Clare had fisted in her lap, glad when Clare let her. “I just wanted to protect your childhood as long as I could.” She licked her lips. “But I should have seen you were already past that. So ask me anything you want to know and I will answer truthfully without deflection.”

Clare
’s eyes filled with tears that she swallowed back with a deep shuddering breath. “The blood mage, who hurt you before—he’s in your dreams, isn’t he? He hunts you there. That’s why you never sleep and you always look so sad.”

Nothing like starting right at the heart of the matter.
“Yes, he hunts me in my dreams, so now I will hunt him in real life.” She squeezed her sister’s hands. “I can find him, Clare, and the dragons will help me kill him.”

“
What if he hurts you again?” Clare whispered it, the tears in her eyes falling. Melly pulled her into her arms and closed her eyes in relief when she hugged her back.

“
Do you really think one blood mage is up to taking on four dragon knights and a wind mage?”

Clare
didn’t say anything to that, just clutched at Melly’s shoulder, trying not to cry. Eventually Clare quieted and wiped her eyes. Her chin jutted out, her eyes fired with stubborn purpose. “Promise me that you will come back.”

“
I love you, Clare,” Melly said, aware her own tears were falling. “I will always come back for you.”

***

The horses were not going to be able to travel up the craggy peaks of Forsaken. Not wanting to take weeks to travel the breadth of Dracon in a covered wagon, Melly and her entire family had traveled by air a few hours’ journey to a meadow at the North Gate, which separated Dracon from the human villages and lands. There they joined her dragon escort and the wagon that they would be taking on the remainder of their journey. That was when they ran into a snag they had not expected.

“
Are those horses on fire?” Rhune whispered in awe.

Morgan, Melisande and Clare were all standing just behind Rhune
, taking in the sight before them. It was certainly worth the look. The dragons, besides Ladon who was in his customary brown leathers, were all in black, and most were armed quite impressively with everything from knives and swords to one truly fear inspiring mountain of a man who carried what looked to be an axe bigger than Rhune. While General Solan was impressive with his dark cloud of light-stealing hair tied back, and his quicksilver eyes, it was the others that had Melly shaking her head.

The biggest dragon male she had ever seen
, holding the axe across his back, had blue hair—in the new sun, it appeared to shine as if it was actually liquid sapphires, even as his eyes reminded you of the ever-changing blue of ocean waves. Another dragon, shorter than the others, though he would still tower over most humans, had a more whipcord look to him and moved like the dancing flame his hair resembled. His eyes were black coals that smoldered, and even though she was used to the otherness of dragons now, he was daunting to look at—as if to look to long would burn you in truth.

The other newcomer was half way between the two in height and brawn, closer to Ladon
’s height. Indeed, he had the gold hair and looks of the house of fire, though his hair was more true liquid gold than Ladon’s bronze. He was classically beautiful, in the way a truly beautiful human might be, except for the fact that his hair was liquid gold and his skin shimmered like old coins. His eyes were the deep brown of healthy earth and should have been dull in comparison to the others, but there was too much power there to ever be called ordinary.

As
individuals, they were an impressive lot. As a group , there was no way they were going to pass for human. Not the smallest chance.

Then there was the
horses, which as Rhune had pointed out, seemed to indeed be on fire. If that wasn’t enough to inspire fear in the masses, their sheer size would have done it anyway.

“
What is that?” Morgan asked, coming out of her shock and pointing at the “wagon” they had procured for the journey.

“
What do you mean?” Ladon asked. “It’s a wagon. For Melisande and the supplies.”

Melly cleared her throat and tried not to laugh.
“Generally wagons in the human world are made of wood. Not gold and precious gems.” She didn’t want to even think about how strong those fire beasts had to be to pull a solid gold wagon. Morgan laughed beside her while Melly continued, trying to be diplomatic, “If we are trying to remain unnoticed, we” “ will need to be a little less ... ostentatious.”

The dragons looked around at each other.
It was Eben who spoke. “We decided since there was no way for our dragons to pass as human, we would give a display of wealth and violence, so that the humans would be impressed enough to keep their distance.”

Melly looked
at Morgan, who rolled her eyes, her lips twitching. “I believe that the Dragon Knights and flaming horses will be a sufficient sight to strike fear in the populace,” Melly said, trying to keep the smile out of her voice. “Perhaps excessive even. But it would be best not to advertise quite so strongly the wealth of the dragon lands. Humans have been known to act foolishly when wealth is at stake.”

All the dragons looked to the wagon again.
“Perhaps you are right,” Eben finally said.

The big blue dragon male shrugged his massive shoulders and nodded.
“Humans can be greedy things.” Coming from a people that surrounded themselves with treasure and had made a solid gold wagon, this struck Melly as ironic.

Morgan must have thought so too
. Her voice was dry when she spoke. “Yes, If only they had the fortitude of dragons to be able to resist acquiring shiny baubles.”

T
he dragons turned as one and looked at them, blinking big exotic eyes, and glinting like jewels in the sun.

Melly cleared her throat.
“So, a wooden wagon?”

After the introductions to the new dragons, Melly learned that Lux was the blue-haired giant with the battle-axe. Aarion was the hard-to-look-away-from gold beauty, and Furee was the man of fire. Now here she was, off on her journey, wondering what in the world she, insignificant Melisande, was doing surrounded by four such creatures of elemental power and beauty, and heading off after the blood mage of her nightmares to which she was bound. She was clearly out of her mind. But at least the new wagon was wooden and padded for comfort, even if the two magical horse beasts that pulled it looked to be on fire. They gave off no real heat, which had worried her until she touched them herself. She smiled at the memory of Morgan’s face as she tried not to laugh at the dragon’s version of a wagon and steed.

Speaking of Morgan
—she tilted her head as the wind whispered across her senses, making her smile again.

“What do you hear?”

Melly turned and looked up into quicksilver eyes.
General Solan had moved up beside her on his fiery steed while she was distracted. She blinked at the sudden onslaught of maleness, then shrugged. “It is no great matter for generals.”

“
It is a secret, then?”

She shook her head with a deprecating smile.
“My sister is unhappy about being left behind, and her mates guard her to distraction. We are at the end of our communication range, but I can still feel she is peppering the wind with little shocks of her displeasure.”

“
Why should this be a problem? A dragon must build a granite wall of protection around his mate.” His eyes narrowed on her face. “You smile. Why?”

“
I was just thinking that if a dragon ‘must’ be so, it is good then that my sister has an affinity for reshaping mountains.”

He tilted his head.
“You mock me?”

She smiled to soften her words.
“I mock dragon men as a whole. Do not take it personally.”

He said nothing more for a bit.
The wind swirled about them, enclosing them in a feeling of isolation that was comfortable.

Whispers brushed her hair and she smiled again, without realizing.

“Again you smile in such a way. Why?”

She looked his way beneath her lashes.
Had he been watching her so closely? “You know so many of my secrets, General. Would you know them all?”

“
I would.” There was implacable will behind the words that had her looking him full in the face. His eyes seemed determined to delve all her depths in an afternoon.

“
Well, this one is not mine to tell. You will have to wait and see just like everyone else.”

“
The wind whispers the future to you?”

“
Sometimes.” Her smile faded from her face, leaving her cast in sadness as the wind cooled. “Sometimes it is the past.”

“
Can you stop it from speaking? I value the smile, but not the sadness.”

“
You cannot have one without the other.” She smiled to show him it was not a rebuke. “And the wind whispering in my ear has saved my family too many times to ignore. Besides, it is a friend to me. A companion in the darkest times.”

Just
then, Lux turned and looked back at them from his place riding ahead with Aarion. Furee was behind them somewhere, watching their flank. Lux turned with a word to Aarion and road back to the wagon. He looked at Melisande, then over her head to General Solan, when the man growled, “We will be crossing the North Gate soon, General. Would you like one of us to fly and scout the roads ahead?”

“
We cross as men. We will patrol when we have the concealment of night, starting after we make camp at moonrise.” He looked down at Melly, who was leading the horses over some rocky terrain even as she listened. She felt Solan’s eyes on her once again and looked up. He bowed his head her way. “Then we will see which way the wind blows us.”

Melly sighed, a bump in the rocky road making her bounce around.
One thing she was looking forward to, once they reached the other side of the gate, was smooth roads. Dragons, it seemed, did not make roads a priority, as they rarely traveled any way but on the wing.

She caught L
ux looking at her again. “It must grate to have to walk when you can fly,” she said, giving him a shy smile.

He just shrugged his massive shoulders.
“It has been many thousands of years, but I still remember visiting the human places in my youth, when I could still pass for mortal man.”

Since he made her feel so very tiny next to his large frame mounted on the giant horse, she laughed.
“I could see how that would be more difficult now.”

He shrugged.
“The screaming and running away is what I am not looking forward to. It grates the ears, and annoys most grievously.”

She laughed.
“In their defense, it would as if a mountain suddenly walked up and spoke. For someone as small and insignificant as I am, it would not be beyond the realm of possibility that you could accidentally step wrong and crush me to the floor without realizing it.”

“
My lady,” he said, a glint in his eyes. “Rest assured that if I suddenly crush you to the floor, it would not be accidental or, I hope, unwelcome.”

Melly opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out.
The wind suddenly whipped around them in agitation. She had not expected the dragon to flirt. She wondered if her face looked as inflamed as it felt, and she had no idea how to respond. However, she needn’t have worried—Solan had no problem communicating with the giant, and if that steel jaw and rumbly low voice was any indication, he was furious.

“
The Lady Melisande of the House of Fire and Water falls under the banner of Eben Kinkaid and Prince Ladon. She is also under my protection,” he growled. “I find you attempting to touch her, let alone take her to the ground in any way, I will do some stomping of my own, and rest assured there will be nothing accidental about that either.”

Solan could feel Melly and her surprised eyes on him.
But he was more concerned with getting his point across to the big blue-haired bastard across from him. He allowed his power to fold out, surrounding both Melly in the wagon and sliding up between her and the other male. Lux winced at the stinging slap of power coming his way and immediately bowed his head. “Of course, sir, I meant no disrespect to the lady or her house. Merely passing the time.”

“
Pass it elsewhere.” He growled and kept molted eyes on the male until he had returned to his place beside Aarion far to the front of them.

“
I don’t think he meant any harm, General,” she said softly.

“
He made you uncomfortable.” His voice was just as raw.

Melly swallowed, looking up at him, her eyes sheepish in her soft face.
“I am not used to talking with men who are not related to me in some way. I should have realized it was just harmless flirting and not overreacted.”

“Make no mistake, my Lady. No dragon would go where he is not invited, you have no need to fear on that score—however, that was not harmless flirting but a declaration of intent, and it is my job, indeed my joy, to make sure he understands that you are off limits, in every regard.”

She studied him
and her head tilted as the wind whipped around her, then warmed noticeably before she smiled and turned back to the horses. He was not sure what that smile meant, but it drained the anger from him in an instant. A second later, he heard her voice on the wind: “Thank you, Solan.” And he was warmed further by her use of a single name to address him.

***

They made camp that night just on the human side of the North Gate. It was curious to Melly that the dragons called it the North Gate, the same as the humans did, when it was clearly not North of Dracon.

The big dragon
, Lux, was the one who answered when she commented on this. “We all spend some time among the humans when we are young, as a kind of rite of passage. We have no name for the great gate, so we adopted the way they referred to it.”

“
I had not realized dragons spent so much time among the humans when they were young,” she said, “They had mostly become a thing of legend where I was born.”

“
Most humans never know they have met a dragon when they meet them. And as we have had so few dragons born in the last four or five hundred years, it is not a common occurrence anymore.” He motioned to himself. “As you can see we do not even attempt to pass among the humans after our first molt.”

“
I can understand that,” she said, looking way up and then down his big form. She shook her head and laughed. “I forget sometimes how old you all are in comparison to us humans. Our lives must seem so brief to you.”

“
That is one of the concerns the council brought up when human mage mates were discussed,” Aarion spoke as he joined her and Lux at the fire. “It would be devastating for many to find a mate after so long a search, only to be limited to your human life span.”

Melly looked at him, and then Lux
, who was suddenly mesmerized by the fire.

“
I would rather have a short time with my mate then none at all,” he finished quietly. “But to outlive her? That I could not bear.”

Melly felt the wind blow around the campfire as
the men looked up inquiringly. She canted her head to listen and closed her eyes.

“
That is not what will happen.” She spoke softly, unaware that her voice seemed to come from everywhere as it whispered over their senses, and green mage light was seeping from beneath her closed eyelids. “Dragons with their mage mates will not have such a short span to love, but as the dragon is of magic, and the mage is of the Elements, they will be like the wind, and the air, fire and earth, without age to weaken, or time to take. Immortal as only a dragon and his bonded mate can be.”

The wind died down and Melly opened her eyes, blinking away the blurriness and looking around at the dragons who looked at her with awe and hope on their faces.
Solan stepped out of the lengthening shadows, his eyes on her, with Furee close beside him. His eyes were dragon gold as he studied her. “Are you well?” he asked, making her blink again.

“
I am.”

“
What you said ...” Furee asked, still in the shadows, his flame of hair and the embers of his eyes all she could see of him. “Is it true? Our mates will be immortal, like us?”

Melly shook her head and tried to focus her blurred thoughts.
She narrowed her eyes and concentrated on what she had seen. “If you are truly destined mates and you bond a mage to you, she will not age and die, but like a dragon after his first adult molt she will be ageless and forever at your side.”

She blinked and could practically feel the weight of their emotions swirl around her.
Lux smiled at her. His eyes the crystal clear blue of a sunny lake now. Aarion looked poleaxed across from her; it was an expression she never expected to see on these staid dragon warriors.

She heard a stunned whisper on the wind and had no idea who said it, but
clearly, they were all thinking it as the words floated off buoyed by hope: “She will live.”