by Kenna Bardot
I met Ryle’s eyes. We hadn’t seen anything inside the house when we’d entered but for a sticky floor and Hydra, unconscious in the cage. I walked forward and laid a hand on her shoulder. “There was no one in the house.”
“No. I freed her.” I paled at her words and saw the way Tate blanched. “I freed her from him.” She looked down at her hands. “She had to be free of him. I couldn’t stand one more second of him violating her, defiling her, using her because he didn’t have me.” Her body trembled, and I bunched my fists even though there was nothing to punish. “She had to be free.” She looked up to Tate, her eyes wide and pleading, needing reassurance from him that she’d done the right thing.
“You saved her from him,” Tate whispered, comforting her with a hand running over her hair. She nodded blankly, but it looked more like she needed to convince herself than an actual agreement.
When her introspective moment was over, her eyes darted and spotted Ryle with Hydra. She ran up to him and grabbed the dragon in her arms, falling back to the ground to cradle her.
"It was him. It was always him. He killed the dragons. If Tali weren’t reason enough, he deserved to die," she whispered, and I glanced at Char.
Tate spoke up softly. “You didn’t have to be the one to do it.”
"No. It had to be me," she said, turning stronger, more resolved eyes my way. Something in her gaze convinced me that no matter how much it broke her, in her mind this was one of those things that Mireyah needed to do for herself. “For her. For all of them. For all of us.”
She couldn't let us save her. Not when she could command her own destiny.
I pitied anyone who tried to get in her way.
Shep gathered his winds, doing his best to gather up all the pieces of Ashric into a pile where his body had once laid. "You never know what the Core Gods will want to do," he whispered with a shrug. He stepped up, touching his forehead to Mireyah's as he sighed. "So help me Gods, if something like this ever happens again, you wait for us. You do not charge forward."
"I had it covered." She smiled at him, glancing at the pile of flesh.
"I would say you did, yes," Char chuckled, stepping away from a hairy piece of scalp as he approached Mireyah's other side. "Though it would have been nice if you could have shared some of the pain for me." Mireyah gave him a slight smile, but it drifted off her face too quickly. The death of her sister was too fresh to appreciate any attempts to make light of what she’d done.
"One of us has to go get help," Tate whispered. "The Core Gods need to know what happened here. We need a Springen to get Hydra home."
"I'll go," Ryle volunteered, stepping up to kiss Mireyah in relief. "Just keep her safe."
He turned back toward the house, taking the path we'd followed to find our wife. Once he was out of sight, we found a clean place to sit.
And we waited.
✽✽✽
Mireyah
I placed a hand on my stomach and the other on Hydra's head. In the middle of the battle with Ashric, I'd felt what I had only just begun to understand. My life was entwined in them both. My life and my love as a mother was shared equally between them. Haisley had not been wrong. I had a huge capacity for love and now that I knew we were no longer in any immediate danger, I could find some peace with it.
"Well, looks like we didn't have to wait too long," Hollis spoke up not even five minutes after Ryle left. I looked up to see my Karfi walking back with several figures walking behind him.
"That was fast, even for him," Tate observed as he stood and walked forward to meet his twin Just a few moments later, the two were back and parted ways to reveal Zeevar and Anselm walking shoulder to shoulder with Corban Dracari.
"Mireyah, we are happy that you are well. We've been frantically looking for you. Anselm found you, but it appears everything has been changed." Corban walked up to lay a hand on my knee, the other on Hydra's back just beside where she still bled from what Ashric had done to her. "She was close. I am sorry we could not protect you."
"Damn right you should be sorry -" Shep burst out, but I touched his shoulder to stop him and gave Corban's fingers a light tap.
"If blame should be cast, it should be mine. I acted without thinking, consumed by the need to find her and protect her." I stopped as I looked around at what I could only call carnage, "to avenge. I didn't stop to think there could be another way."
"And thus you acted like a Dragon Guard. There are those who qualify to be a Dragon Guard because they work harder for it. Rarer still are those chosen by the dragons themselves, but rarest are those whose entire being are so tied to being a Dragon Guard it is hard to see where one starts and duty begins. You have achieved that, Mireyah Dracari. And I am proud of you," Zeevar glided forward and touched a hand to Corban's shoulder. He stood from his position crouched before me and Zeevar held out a hand for me to take.
Shep's hand gave me a squeeze before I reached forward and allowed myself to be pulled to my feet. "Thank you. It means so much to me." And it did. I had to think Zeevar was not one to give his complete explicit approval often, so tears stung my eyes. The reassurance that I hadn’t been wrong to act was a comfort I needed in that moment.
Then again, being pregnant, I could imagine it might have been hormones, trauma, and sheer grief. I felt numb inside, like the worst of my recovery had yet to come.
"Of the four Core Gods, I am labelled as the most cruel, the one who is coldest and most uncaring, but the death of two of my dragons to something as senseless as a broken and wounded pride cannot be forgiven. There is no punishment great enough to be justice for that, but I will finish what you started." He turned me to face what was left of Ashric as he held his arms aloft.
The wind whistled as the night melted away in swirling indigo and purple, overcome by the red and orange of the dawn. The light bathed him, but he seemed to glow outside of it in greens and icy blues. The carnage I caused formed a black orb, all the pieces of Ashric absorbed into it.
Anselm, Caprice and Rhiannon, who silently watched us, walked forward and stood in the three other cardinal directions relative to Zeevar. They held out their hands just as Zeevar had and cast a glow so bright that the rising sun paled in comparison. A silence engulfed us, so deafening that I could not even feel the fast thumping of my heart nor the quickening gasp of my breath.
Then it disappeared, and it was as though nothing had happened. Zeevar walked back to where I stood, just where he had left me watching. "And no trace of him will exist but his will. That part of him will suffer eternally in the Unwanted Lands even when our world has become dust. And still it is not enough." His jaw hardened and his hands trembled as Rhiannon came forward and took them in hers.
"I am very sorry, my dear. I hope you find peace in the fact that your Dragon Guard is once again safe." Her words were soft, but I was so close, I could hear them. I turned my head away, uncomfortable to see the Core Gods acting so human with their emotions and vulnerability.
I took a step back, but out of the side of my eye, I saw Zeevar bend down to grip Rhiannon hard against him - just a man seeking comfort from his woman.
"Perhaps this time it is not interfering with someone's fate to help?" she asked with a laugh as she laid a hand on his cheek. He sighed and shook his head before he turned away from us.
Rhiannon walked up to me and laid a hand on my cheek, much as she had done to Zeevar. "You have been so brave, my child. So brave." The cooling sensation of a spring rain drenched me, lightening the fatigue I hadn't allowed myself to feel.
“It was my fault, Mother Rhiannon. My fault that my sister is dead. His obsession with me resulted in the end of her life.” Pain like I'd never known, pain worse than anything I could imagine speared through my heart. "How do I-," I paused, sniffling against my tears. "How can I ever forgive myself for this?"
The guilt was something I didn't know I could take. The way I'd failed to protect her, that my own happiness had ultimately led to her death.
“Use
it, my dear. Don’t let it be for nothing. He believes in you so much.” She turned towards Zeevar and smiled, fondness and love shining out of her face. She nodded when I squared my shoulders before turning to where my men just sat and stood watching silently. Hydra still slept in Hollis' arms where I placed her.
"Your Hydra has been through a lot but you have cared and cured her very well. But she deserves her beauty and a clean slate. Let me give that to her." She put both her hands atop Hydra and soft green light surrounded her. In my head, the songs of a thousand beautiful sirens sang.
Peace and joy and health. I knew Hydra heard it too. Felt it too.
She stepped back as the light faded, and I took a step forward and saw that but for a very tiny blood stain, Hydra's scales were back to what they were - row upon row of shiny red golden scales. Ashric had not been triumphant in scarring her and giving her a reminder of just what he had done for the rest of her life.
If only the scar that he had slashed through my soul and psyche could just as easily be fixed. I knew I would have nightmares for the rest of my life. I started when I felt the touch of a hand on my own and looked down to see Caprice watching the same scene.
"I could take the pain from you, Mireyah Dracari. Bring you back to what you were before you had taken the life of another soul, no matter how deserving. Remove the scars already forming in your soul from having to end your own sister." Her voice was soft, meant only for me before she continued. "But I already know what you would say - that you need to live with it because it now becomes part of the woman you are. Instead, I give you the gift of peace when you need it." She held out an orb she offered to me. "When it gets to be too much, that will give you a reprieve."
I took it and examined the gray orb. It was lighter than I thought it would be and small enough to fit in my pocket safely. "Thank you."
"Of course." She tilted her head in that way I knew best from all the times I'd talked to her in Sylfeshire. "I have a feeling you will never use it, Mireyah Dracari. You have always had one of the strongest wills I have ever seen, and that was when you were a human. Your Ascension to Goddess has only improved that."
I smiled and nodded, but didn't trust myself to speak when Anselm walked forward. His substantial bulk was so big he could dwarf even Ryle. "A warrior's scars are their most precious.” He took my arm and touched where a wound ran towards where my Sire tattoos were. Attained in one of my scuffles with the Northern girls. Even without the help of a healer, it already healed quickly. "May the reminder of it give you strength whenever you need it."
I watched as it faded but not completely, leaving a mark that would remind me, just as he declared, of the strength inside me I only had to access. With the reminder it gave me, I knew I could face anything I had to face. Especially since I had already faced one of the worst things I ever could.
“You found him before I could. But you knew, didn’t you, Mireyah Dracari?” he asked, still looking at me in that way he had back in the Reserve. “That it was you. The dragons he killed were the ones in your Sire Trials. It was his fault, not yours. But you were the catalyst.”
All the deaths because of me. Yes, it was something I would never forget. “There was a moment I thought so. And even more moments that I prayed I was just imagining things.”
“You shouldn’t be too hard on yourself. Everything he did was his fault and not yours. Just live, satisfied that he will never bother you again.”
I nodded and bent my head down to keep myself from crying again. “Thank you, Anselm.”
"We wish you congratulations, Mireyah. To you and your Sires." Zeevar turned back to us and the arrogant smirk returned to his face.
He did so like tormenting me.
Rhiannon gave me a big, beatific smile, eyes twinkling in pleasure. "You will make a beautiful mother, Mireyah." She turned towards where I had reached out to lay a hand on Hydra and nodded. "You already are."
"Farewell and be well, Mireyah Dracari." Their voices, ethereal and melodious, lifted in a chorus that seemed to surround as all before the four Core Gods disappeared.
“You’re pregnant?” The question came from Corban, who perched atop his dragon, Anguisa. Surrounded by the Core Gods, I’d forgotten he was there.
I allowed Char to wrap his arms around me, Shep to grab my hand again, and laid my head on Tate’s shoulder as I looked up at him.
"I am.”
I touched my stomach, smiling softly even as tears continued to burn my eyes.
And I wished for a little girl named Tali.
Epilogue
Mireyah
Seven months later
There was nothing as calming as watching a handsome man pick vegetables from a garden made with love. I leaned against the stone counter of the kitchen and watched out of the window over the sink. Except, of course, being out there and smelling all those scents, feeling all those textures. That might have calmed me more.
But as I laid a hand on my heavily pregnant belly, I could only resent the fact that it hindered my mobility. I could barely walk outside as it was, so the thought of bending over and gardening was an impossibility. Didn't mean I couldn't be annoyed about it.
Hollis threw me a wave when he spotted me watching from the kitchen window, and I waved back. On his way back through the backyard, Hydra came over and toppled him over with her snout easily. Sometimes it still shocked me that my baby was already so big. It wasn't even a year before when I'd first held her, but we'd been through so much.
The latest being the fact that we'd stopped eating with her in her haven because it was too uncomfortable for me to sit on the stone chairs inside the great room. My back twinged here and there, even more so since that morning. There really wasn't much we could do about it, though. Using cushions only meant more flammables for Hydra to burn when she got into a temper. Which she was liable to do.
More so in the last twelve hours. She'd even woken us up by gently scratching a claw at our bedroom window. When that failed to wake all of us up, she hadn't hesitated to let out an enormous roar. When I’d woken up, my head ached so hard, it had been more difficult than usual to stand.
Hollis looked up at Hydra as he lay sprawled on the ground, picking up the vegetables that rolled out of the basket he carried. I wanted to keep watching, but I waddled over to a bench to sit down and put my feet up. I was so close to term that my back, feet and everything else hurt constantly.
For an immortal Goddess, I succumbed to a lot of my former human frailties. Much as it sometimes frustrated me and worried my men, I could not help but be secretly thrilled. There was a time I'd thought my dream of having a simple life with my husband while we waited for our child to grow inside me had been a futile dream, but now I had my version of it that brought me untold joy.
And fatigue. Let's not forget about the fatigue.
The door from the backyard closed with a quiet click, and Hollis let out a huff of a breath. "What's up with Hydra today? She's being more antsy about not being able to come inside than usual."
I leaned back and laid back my head against the tiled walls of the kitchen but kept my eyes closed. I was still annoyed with her for waking me up so early. I was sorely tempted to take a nap as I answered sleepily, "No fucking clue. I can't really feel much from her, at least nothing unusual or worrying. But Jasmine said there's a big chance the pregnancy can dull our connection a bit for the last few weeks of my pregnancy as my body and mind gear up for the baby coming and all that. So I can't be sure. It's nothing horrible though. That I'd still know for sure."
I felt Hollis pad over and touch my cheek. "I'm glad that he's gone, Mireyah. When I stop to think about what could have happened, had he attacked when you were this far along? It keeps me up at night."
I opened my eyes to meet his. The last few months had been peaceful, but my soul had yet to be completely at peace. Caprice had been right. I had not used the trinket she gave me, instead allowing myself to live out the nightmares. As I stared at Hollis' worried ey
es, I could see now that it might have been the wrong decision.
I wasn't the only one who suffered for my decisions. "It keeps me up too." I chuckled and laid a hand on my belly - or shelf, as I'd taken to calling it. "Then again, so does this, so it's both a good and bad thing that keeps me up and the good far outweighs the bad."
"It does. Our family is beautiful." Hollis tilted his head to the side as the sound of laughter from the other room sounded. The rest of the men took care of the dining table, arguing about cleaning and the other chores I could not help with in my current state.
I should have been enjoying the pampering. Instead, it only worried me.
Hollis gave my shoulder a squeeze. "They're fine, Mireyah. They're muddling through it. We all are. Just rest."
I nodded and forced myself not to think about it, closing my eyes and letting my consciousness drift until everything faded into a comfortable darkness.
✽✽✽
The knocking of the door woke me up and my eyes popped open. It was dark outside, which meant I'd slept through sunset. I let out a groan because I’d been in the same position for far too long. I looked and saw that Hollis was no longer in the kitchen, but the smell of the pasta sauce simmering on the stove made my mouth water.
I was glad that being in the third trimester meant I wasn't as picky about food as I had been at the start.
My head turned towards the commotion in the front of the house as my men's voices raised, and I pushed myself up off the bench to stretch. The nap had been refreshing, but some of my joints were a little stiff from having held the same position for too long.
I walked through the dining room and towards the foyer where all my men were gathered and asked, "What's going on?"
As one, the entire group of them turned towards me and it was enough of a parting to show me that Jasmine was there as well. "Jas?"
She threw me an enormous smile and raised the bag she carried like I should have been expecting her. "Hi, Mireyah! Are we ready to get a baby out?"
