Wings of Tavea (36 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

Found

KIORA HAD INSISTED THEY leave after they broke her connection with Emane, but Drustan insisted they rest. The sun had already gone down, he argued, and they would be useless in a fight if they were exhausted. They still had at least half a day’s flight before they made it to the Manor.

She had relented, and Drustan had fallen asleep almost immediately. Alcander had left some time ago to get food, and though her eyes felt full of sand from pure exhaustion, she could not force herself to lie down. Instead she sat silently, staring at the lake.

Alcander finally appeared, dropping his bubble inside the barrier. He had a large wild pig slung over his shoulders that he had already gutted.

“Wow, that is a lot of meat,” she said, already excited that it wasn’t fish or dragon.

“Drustan will need his strength replenished,” he said, dropping the animal to the ground.

“That was very thoughtful of you.”

“No, that was very pragmatic of me.” Pulling a knife out of his belt, he dropped to one knee and shaved chunks of meat off. “Can you build us a fire, please?”

She reached out her fingers, kindling a fire on a pile of leaves that cracked and burned but did not go any further than she intended. Leaning back she watched him work. “Why do you do that?”

He looked up, his eyebrows knitted together. “Do what?”

“Act like you don’t care.”

He went back to his butchering. “Perhaps it’s not a act.”

‘Yes, it is,” she said softly. “You care too much.”

He made an irritated huff before grabbing a branch off the nearest tree and scraping the bark off with the knife.

The vision rushed in and Kiora hissed. It was powerful and difficult to force out of her head.
She was back in the throne room of the Creators. Jasmine was standing in the room, looking out the windows. She was older now, in her teens perhaps.

Nestor came in, looking surprised to see her. “Jasmine?”

“Hello, Father,” she answered coldly, her long black hair hanging down her back. Nestor stood awkwardly in the door, shifting as if he wanted to hug her but knew better.

“I want it back,” Jasmine demanded, turning around in a flurry of hair. She had been beautiful the last time Kiora had seen her, but she was inhumanly beautiful now. Her skin was the color of toffee, setting off her bright green almond-shaped eyes. The color was brilliant, far brighter than Kiora’s own green eyes.

Nestor’s shoulders slumped as he moved to his throne, dropping himself heavily into it. “I have already told you, I cannot give it back.”

“No, you refuse to give it back. I have researched it, Father. I know I can draw off the stones.”

A shadow passed in front of Nestor’s eyes. “No. It can’t do both.”

“I don’t care if it can do both!” she yelled. “It wasn’t yours to give, Father, it was mine. These people—” she jabbed a finger at the window, “don’t deserve it. They have taken your gift and squandered it.”

“No.” Nestor shook his head. “Not all of them.”

“Look at them! They are selfish, squabbling children!”

“No,” Nestor said, his skin nearly ashen. “I will not take it back.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Then I will.”

“I will not allow that.”

Jasmine took a step back, evaluating Nestor. “No,” she said thoughtfully, “I didn’t think you would.” She vanished from the throne room as the vision darkened, just as her dream had darkened in the canyon’s village. Soon she was standing in a dark mist. It was thick, and Kiora tried to push through it, looking for something, anything. Suddenly two bright green eyes flickered open in front of her. This was different, less dream-like, and terror punched through her like a knife.
The eyes looked around as if getting its bearings, then focused back on Kiora, triumph flashing.

Kiora bolted to her feet, clawing at her chest and neck.

Alcander was standing inches from her, his hands out but not touching her. “Emane?” he asked thickly.

She shook her head. “I think it was Jasmine.”

He dropped back down, grabbing the skewer he’d made and threading pieces of pork onto it. “There is no Jasmine.”

“Her eyes. She saw me.” Kiora wrapped her arms around herself. “She was here. She saw me—she saw where we were.” She took a deep shuddering breath before clamping her mouth shut.

“How do you know she is wrong?” Drustan said from behind Alcander, his back still turned and looking asleep. “You didn’t know an entire valley was blocked off for the last few thousand years.”

“So?” Alcander said without hiding his exasperation.

Drustan rolled over. “So—you didn’t know because they magically concealed it. You don’t think a daughter of a Creator is capable of that kind of magic?”

He scowled, turning his head to Drustan. “Why would she do that? Erase herself?”

“She wants her immortality back,” Kiora said, squeezing her arms tighter. “Jasmine said she wanted the lights, that Nestor could give it back to her. He refused.”

Alcander paced back and forth, frowned, then crouched back down. “She could have taken the lights—is that what you are saying?”

“It’s possible.”

“Are you sure?”

“No, I am not sure,” Kiora said. Dropping her head, she sighed. “I am getting bits and pieces. It’s hard to put together. All I know is that I keep seeing Jasmine over and over again. I have never dreamed about anything that hasn’t been true, ever.”

“You never had silly childish dreams?” Alcander asked skeptically, one eyebrow rising.

“No. I had dreams of death. Dreams of fire burning homes to the ground, or of my parents dying. No.” Kiora shook her head vehemently. “I never had ‘silly childish dreams.’” Her voice shook with anger. “I don’t
want
her to be real, but she is.”

“All right,” he said, more softly than she had expected. “All right.”

She stilled as a dark sense of foreboding began to fill the forest. Not like a thread, not so precise. But large and loose and dangerous. It seeped through the protective barriers.

“Can you feel that?” she asked.

Drustan and Alcander both paused, waiting. A moment later a rush of threads began spilling through the forest.

“Where did they all come from?” Drustan yelled, scrambling to his feet.

Alcander jumped up, scanning the forest, looking for the owners of the threads. “I don’t know, but it is time to go.” The boundary flickered.

Drawn by the sudden appearance of life, a host of mermaids rose from the water, letting loose their murderous song. Drustan and Kiora turned unconsciously towards the lake.

“Ears!” Alcander roared, having to steel himself as well. There were so many of them, dozens. The surface of the lake was dotted with glamoured beauties.

Drustan’s ears shrank into his head as Kiora took a step towards the lake. Alcander flung himself on top of her, pushing her to the ground and covering her ears with his hands. She blinked. With the song muted, her mind returned to her and she looked around in confusion. Alcander was shouting at Drustan, who couldn’t hear a thing. Dark threads were everywhere, and the darkness—the same one she had felt in her dream—was here with her.

Alcander pulled her up, pushing her head against his chest so he could cover her ears and use his free hand to gesture to Drustan. He pointed furiously at the sky.

Understanding, Drustan began shifting into a dragon. Alcander put his hand back over Kiora’s ear, pulling her head away from him. She could see him muttering an incantation. Then it all went silent. Kiora could see Alcander’s mouth moving, see the Shifter-dragon to the side of her, but they created no sound she could hear.

Alcander pointed to her ears, mouthing something. She thought he was asking her if she could hear. She shook her head no. Looking satisfied, he pulled her to her feet and pushed her towards Drustan. Running up the dragon’s tail, she hurriedly made her way onto Drustan’s back.

Alcander waved his hands, repacking everything they had brought. One more movement and he secured the camp to Drustan’s back before heading towards them at a dead run. Leaping, Alcander flipped himself over, landing just behind Kiora. Wrapping one arm around her, he slapped Drustan’s side with the other. The massive dragon’s wings unfolded as Alcander tapped Kiora on the shoulder. She turned and saw him mouth, “Bubble!”

It was odd not hearing the beat of the dragon wings as they lifted off, or the sound of the wind rushing past her ears. Looking down, her heart dropped at what she saw. Figures loped through the dark, lit by little bursts of magic that exploded outwards every few seconds.

They are looking for us
, she realized.

Whoever it was, they were trying to flush them out, using magic to pop whatever

barriers they came across. Thankfully Alcander had insisted they camp where they did. Had they been any farther within the trees, they never would have made it out. Turning her head the other way she gasped, covering her mouth in horror. There, exquisitely lit by the moonlight, were a few who the mermaids had caught unaware. Any who had followed the urges of the mermaids’ song were being dragged under the water, blood coloring the water crimson. In the brilliant glow of the full moon, one mermaid, glamour now gone, sank her needle-sharp teeth into one victim’s face.

Kiora’s stomach lurched as she leaned forward, trying not to gag. She felt Alcander’s fingers against her cheek, sending two sharp points of magical contact into her as he gently steered her head away. Unfortunately, neither turning her head nor her deaf ears prevented her from feeling the threads go quiet.

After a few minutes of flying, Alcander put his hands over her ears, and the sound of the wind returned. Reaching over, he slammed his hand against Drustan’s side. The dragon head swiveled back, and Alcander motioned to his ears. Understanding, a pair of ears popped out of the side of his head.

“Any idea what happened back there?” Drustan asked.

“I don’t know how they found us, but they knew we were there,” Alcander said.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The Manor

ALCANDER, KIORA, AND DRUSTAN stood staring at the Manor from the other side of the pond. It was beautiful. The large house was surrounded by trees painted in fantastic fall colors. It shouldn’t have been pretty, Kiora thought, not when she knew what transpired inside.

“Something is very wrong,” Alcander said, stopping Kiora as she moved to walk around the pond. “Very.” His eyes darted around from within their bubble. “They are not bubbled. No protection of any sort, and yet they have been left alone for days.”

She hesitated. She didn’t want anything to be wrong; they couldn’t afford any more delays. But he was right. The situation smacked of something unseen.

Alcander turned in a slow circle, his eyes scanning the forest. “The Shadow’s forces want two things right now. ” Alcander said, trying to piece the puzzle together. “One is sitting in that Manor. So why have they left Emane there? And why, after Dralazar stole Emane out from under their noses and made them look like fools, have they not come for him?”

“Maybe that’s exactly why,” Drustan pointed out. “Would you want to tell the Shadow what happened? Maybe they kept their mouths shut to keep themselves alive.”

Alcander crouched down, still scanning, as if the change in height would allow him to see things more clearly. “I doubt that,” he said. “The Shadow always has men in place, men who are completely loyal. Nothing in this land goes unknown.”

Kiora stared at the Manor, closing her eyes as the puzzle piece Alcander sought slid into place. The Shadow wanted two things, true. But Kiora knew full well which one of their threads would have caught the Shadow’s attention when they came through the pass. “They are leaving Emane alone because there is something they want even more.” She looked at Alcander. “Me.”

He rose to his feet, swearing. “Mother of Creators, they are doing exactly what Dralazar is doing. It’s another cursed trap.”

“Dralazar is using Emane to draw me out, and the Shadow is using Dralazar,” Kiora said.

She heard Drustan growl as the sliver of hope she had held onto, that perhaps they would not be facing the Shadow at the Manor, flitted away.

“The Shadow’s forces will be around here somewhere,” Alcander said, his eyes flicking around the clearing. “If the past is any indicator, we are probably dealing with scouts. They will be watching for Kiora. Once they spot her, they will call in the rest as needed.”

“Are you sure?” Drustan asked.

“No. But it is unlikely they would station an army to hide in the woods for an unknown. There was no guarantee you would show up here,” he said to Kiora.

“It doesn’t really matter how many there are,” she said. “The second we drop our bubbles they will send for the rest. And then what? We can’t fight the Shadow
and
Dralazar.” If what Niall had said were true, they would be lucky to set eyes on the Shadow and live, let alone survive a battle.

Alcander’s head snapped up as if she had spoken something brilliant. “No, they will send for the rest if
you
drop your bubble. If I drop
my
bubble, they will come for me instead.”

“They would disobey an order from the Shadow?” Drustan asked.

Kiora thought she understood where Alcander was going. “It wouldn’t be disobeying an order if I wasn’t here.”

“Exactly. And if they are here, the price on my head should be tempting enough to draw them out.”

“How high a price?” Kiora asked.

Alcander crossed his arms. “They could probably buy their way into the new royal family.”

“And if they are not here?” Drustan questioned. “We lose the element of surprise.”

Kiora looked at the Manor. “The risk is worth it. Besides, the worst that happens if the scouts aren’t here is Dralazar comes out for Alcander. I can unbubble, and the battle happens regardless. Dralazar will not let Emane go without a fight.”