Dragons and Mages: A Limited Edition Anthology

by Pauline Creeden

  “Obviously, you can trust me, Katherine. I’ve already shared with you the knowledge I’ve gleaned from classified sources. What do you know?”

  “I don’t know anything, but I have a suspicion that I’m part of the five who are supposed to bring the dragons back.” I watched his face closely to see if he would laugh at my audacity.

  He slowly nodded. “I suspected as much.”

  “What? Then why have you tried so hard to stop me?”

  “Think about it, Katherine. Once the prophecy is started, it can’t be stopped. I had to make certain you’d follow through and not be dissuaded at the first sign of resistance from someone in authority.”

  Fine, he had a point. But I didn’t have to like it. “Okay, so I think that my girlfriends and I are the ones to win the tournament this year. We have the skills to succeed, and I had something happen last night, which might make all the difference.”

  “Don’t keep me in suspense. What was it?” Ryker dropped into the second visitor’s chair and looked expectantly up at me.

  I seated myself across from him and rested my elbows on my knees. I leaned closer to keep my voice low. “Last night, I saw sparks while sparring with my dad. I’ve never had that happen before, and I was getting tired. With nothing to lose, I followed the direction the sparks showed me, and I defeated my dad with moves I’ve never used before.”

  “Okay. The power of suggestion could probably explain that. Don’t you think?”

  I vehemently shook my head. “That’s not possible. I hadn’t even read your journal until after I went to bed last night. When I got to the comment of a spark, something lurched inside me that I’d experienced the same spark of recognition that Aaliyah spoke of.”

  “I see.” Ryker sat back in his chair, tapping his fingers rhythmically. “So, tell me about these sparks you saw.”

  “It reminded me of a diamond hit with sunlight, like my mom’s ring when we go outside at noon. It flashed in one point and then moved in an arc to show me the direction to make my sword swing. The faster I followed its direction, the faster the next sparkle would appear.”

  “Interesting. Did you notice anything else?”

  Pursing my lips, scenes of the fight flashed through my thoughts. I’d been exhausted. I gladly took every opportunity to end the fight as fast as possible. Yet, still… “Yes! While it happened, I had renewed energy, and time seemed to slow down to make it a simple matter to execute the complicated moves.”

  Ryker clapped his hands sharply and then held them stiffly together between his knees. “Do you think you could replicate it?”

  “I don’t know, but I hope so. If I can, then it’ll make all the difference in the tournament.”

  “Exactly my thinking.” Ryker jumped up, pacing in the small space, his feet striking the floor in sharp staccato sounds. “Do you have time after school today to try something? I’ve got someone who you could spar with who’s very discreet. He’s a friend of mine, and he won the gladio games back when we were in school.”

  “Um, I guess. Are you sure it’s safe?” I glanced up at the clock, noting I’d have to leave right away. I stood up.

  “Yes. Stay after lab today, and we can go meet him together.”

  “What about my sword? I didn’t bring it to school.”

  “Don’t worry about it. Jace has an extensive collection of practice swords. It’s kind of his thing.”

  “Okay. I’ll have to trust you on this.” I swooped down to grab my bag and practically flew to my first class. My mind raced even faster than my feet. I tried to imagine how this discovery would change all of Heliok. Hopefully, for the better.

  My distraction better not impact my grades. Could I give up my dream of working in the space program? If I won the tourney, then I could choose my career path. But one thought kept returning—Dad’s offhanded comment at dinner last night. The part where he said he’d won the gladio game and moved up a dome.

  If the government hadn’t introduced the Dragon’s Dare to the tournament almost a century before, then the people wouldn’t have had much opportunity to interact with the other domes. Our government had created the very thing they tried to prevent. Usually, each dome specialized in one of the games, the one associated with the dome’s symbol. But, when people started moving between domes, they took their skills with them.

  I made my excuses to Alyssa, but I’m sure she didn’t believe me. She exited the ‘ponics lab with the parting stare, and I felt guilty for leaving her out of this adventure. When I learned something concrete, she’d be the first person I’d tell.

  Even as she stepped out of my sight, I felt stupid for keeping my plans to myself. After all, I planned on going somewhere alone with my teacher to meet some other man.

  “Are you ready to go?”

  I jumped in surprise. Somehow, Ryker came to stand right next to me while I daydreamed. I readjusted the strap of my bookbag on my shoulder and nodded. “Yep. Lead the way. Where are we going, anyway?”

  “Jace lives in Dome 3 now with his wife, so we’ll head over to his place. I think fewer people will take notice of us there.”

  That didn’t sound reassuring. We left the school campus and walked past the bored guards who kept order in the tunnels between the domes. I clutched the straps of my bag as if my life depended on the contact. Beads of sweat formed on my brow. With worried thoughts racing through my head, Ryker surprised me again by speaking. I needed to calm down before I made a bigger fool of myself.

  “This is the place.”

  We turned off the narrow street to step over to the front door of a house, quite a bit smaller than my own. I knew the domes each had their own housing styles, mostly dependent on the prosperity of the families who lived in them. Yet, these houses seemed so much less luxurious than what I’d grown used to. Anger bubbled in me. Why couldn’t we all have the same? Was it so hard to create equality?

  The opening door interrupted my musings. A handsome man the same age as Ryker stood inside. Upon seeing us, his stern expression bloomed into a full-blown smile, and he stepped back into his house. “Come in, come in! Is this her?” His eyes raked up and down me as though he inspected a rare specimen.

  “Yes. This could be it, man!” Ryker’s voice rose, and a grin lit up his face until he no longer resembled the stoic teacher I knew.

  “Wow! Just wow! All these years, we’ve waited and wondered. Who would’ve thought it would happen in our lifetime?”

  As soon as we stepped inside, he shut the front door, taking away the bright light from outside and making the living room strangely dim. Curious, I looked around. The space had meager furniture, but it appeared tidy as though a woman regularly took care of everything.

  A woman called out from another room. “Are they here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Well, bring them through! I’ve got snacks ready.”

  Jace sheepishly grinned while he rubbed the back of his neck. He turned and walked through the living room, gesturing for us to follow him. We fell into step behind him and entered a small, well-lit kitchen at the back of the house.

  I couldn’t believe my eyes. Trays and trays of fancy food covered the table. This wasn’t the gruel I’d grown accustomed to; this was real food. Two steps into the room, I stopped dead in my tracks. Where had they found this bounty?

  The woman stepped over and placed her warm, small hand on my forearm. “It’s shocking; I know! My name’s Meary. I work in the test gardens of the research lab, and we get to bring home food several times per week.”

  “Nice perk.” Ryker didn’t sound one bit shy.

  He also didn’t have any qualms in helping himself to the food. Ryker lifted the mini-salad as if in a toast before popping it into his mouth and chewing. Turning to me, he grinned foolishly. “You need to try this, Katherine. I’ve never tasted anything so amazing. Not even the food we have in the ‘ponics lab can compare to this.”

  That was high praise coming from him. Enough to make me very curio
us. Stepping over to the table, I selected the same thing as Ryker. I loved the flavor explosion in my mouth. Within minutes, we had sampled everything until nothing remained on the plates except crumbs.

  Jace fidgeted the whole time we ate. As soon as we finished, he uncrossed his arms and gestured toward the kitchen’s sliding door. “Come out back to pick your practice sword. We can get started now that you’ve had some refreshments. After everything Ryker’s told me, I’m dying to see what you can do.”

  I glared at Ryker. At least he had the decency to look abashed. I didn’t want the added pressure to perform. Heck, I had enough doubts all on my own. It took several minutes to test out various sword lengths and weights until I found one which would suit my sparring style. Some of them probably would have worked fine, but I needed a few more minutes to compose myself. Okay, fine. I was stalling.

  “Are you ready?” Jace already held his sword in the opening stance. He chose to stand in the middle of the yard, leaving me to have the sun blinding my vision.

  Noting this disadvantage, I expected to overcome it. Dad regularly had me turn a fight to a more favorable position. Looking around, I noted our small audience leaned against the side door, clear of our fight.

  Turning to face Jace, I dropped my chin and took up my proper stance, sword balanced in front of me. “Ready.” In the next heartbeat, I stepped forward and let my sword have its own way. The initial shock of my move did not last long. Much as my own father did, Jace began working me across the yard. I’d have to do better than this.

  I worked out some new defenses to use in the tourney since his style differed greatly from my father’s. He fought left-handed, forcing me to concentrate on defending my right side more than I’d ever had to before. Just like always, I lost track of time. Only when my body began to tire, did I realize I’d have to find a way to end this match.

  Jace used his greater weight to slash his sword toward my side while he advanced, grinning as if he’d already won. I barely managed to pivot in time to avoid having my ribs bruised from his crushing force. Using my tail guard, I managed to shed his attack while stepping across to face him again. The fence almost impeded my ability to move properly.

  Just like before, my mind laser-focused on defeating my enemy. I almost lost my balance when the first spark appeared, but my hesitation lasted only a fraction of a second before I passed forward to limit the amount of space Jace had to strike back. I took advantage of his retreat to make several left thrusts, forcing him to defend his weaker right side.

  I gave myself over to the strange instructions in my mind. All sounds became muffled, and the clashes of our swords no longer reverberated through my body. Unlike with my dad, it only took four moves before I had Jace cornered with my sword at his throat.

  “I concede.” Jace’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “You did it, didn’t you?”

  I nodded.

  “I could tell exactly when it started happening. Your moves became more precise and fluid. Tell me everything about how it felt.” Jace took the sword from my unresisting hand and turned me around so we could go back into the house.

  Sitting around the kitchen table, I related as many details as I could recall. Whenever I paused, someone would ask me a question to keep me going. The most important thing I came away with was the idea that I could access this power during the tourney.

  Even as my doubts about my new ability for the games waned, my concerns over Jace’s questions increased. With each passing minute, he grew more insistent on analyzing my answers. Much to my relief, Ryker finally seemed to notice as well.

  “We need to head back to the school.” Ryker stood from the chair.

  Even though I immediately copied him, I flinched when I realized my foot had fallen asleep. Without making it too obvious, I wriggled my toes, internally wincing as the pins and needles feeling flared up sharply with each movement.

  Meary left the room to walk alongside Ryker. I wished Ryker would have stayed with me. My apprehension intensified when Jace grabbed my forearm to catch my attention. I stared at his hand, disbelieving he would take such a liberty.

  “Katherine, promise me that you’ll let me have a dragon when you bring them back.” He leaned in close to me, spittle flying from his mouth.

  “I think you’re getting a little ahead of the game here. I haven’t even won the gladio games yet. Besides, I don’t think that’s how it works.” I broke my arm from his grasp and turned smartly on my heel to rush out of his house.

  “Just remember those who helped you, Katherine!”

  “What’s Jace going on about now?” Meary shook her head in wonder at her husband.

  “You’ll have to ask him.” I wasn’t sure of how much Meary knew about the prophecy and the possibility of the dragons returning to save Heliok from self-destruction.

  “Can I give you a hug, Katherine?”

  “Sure.” She caught me off-guard. At least she’d asked to touch me. I held out my arms and patted her gently on the back while she hugged me, much as my mom did.

  When she stepped away, I saw moisture fluttering on the edges of her lower lashes. At that moment, I hoped Meary would get her own dragon. She had the perfect personality for making a difference. If I succeeded, I might get the chance to make that happen.

  Chapter 7

  “ARE YOU SURE we can trust Jace? He seems pretty fanatical about getting his own dragon,” That seemed like the understatement of the century.

  Ryker paused until after we passed the first set of guards in the tunnel between domes. “I know what you mean, but he’s totally trustworthy. At least we learned you can replicate your new skill. I don’t think you realize just how amazing you looked.”

  “Yeah, that was awesome to know I could have it happen again. Now it needs to come back to me when I’m under pressure.”

  “I really liked how you handled yourself with Jace and Meary. It makes me more confident than ever that you could be the one to make this happen.” He paused again while we walked past the second set of guards as we entered the dome. By now, we’d reached the edge of the school campus. “What’s going on with your girlfriends? Have any of them experienced the ‘sparks,’ as you called them?”

  “I haven’t spoken with Anna or Natalie, but Alyssa and Violet both haven’t. I’m going to talk with all of them about what’s coming. It’s not fair to keep them in the dark when we all have such an important role to play in saving Heliok.” When we came to my turn-off, I stopped walking.

  “You don’t think it’ll put too much pressure on them to perform?”

  Pursing my lips, I shook my head. “Not when they find out this is the one chance we’ll ever get.” I sure hoped that was true.

  “Okay. I’ll leave it to you then. Just be sure you keep reading the journal. There’s more to learn. Have a nice evening.”

  “I’m looking forward to it. Thanks.” I’d have just enough time to get cleaned up and grab a quick bite to eat before heading over to storytime. Hopefully, Mom wouldn’t ask too many questions about why I missed dinner.

  As usual, I started racing through the living room, making a beeline to my bathroom. Surprisingly, my parents greeted me from where they sat on the couch. I stumbled to a stop. “Sorry I missed dinner. I stayed after school to spar with Ryker’s old classmate. He thought it would be good for me to experience fighting with someone unfamiliar.”

  “Sounds like good advice.” Dad stood up from the couch and followed me out of the room, calling over his shoulder, “Would you like a glass of water, Charlotte?”

  “No, thank you.”

  Dad didn’t waste any time getting to his questions. “Were you able to get your new skill to work again?”

  Immediately, I grinned and nodded, my eyes sparkled with delight. Dad beamed with pride, almost so much to make me blush. But I held myself together so Mom wouldn’t get suspicious.

  “Yes! Totally awesome! If you can keep this up, then I know you’ll be unstoppable in the tourney.” H
e pulled me in for a side hug. “I’d better get my water and return to your mother before she starts asking questions. Are you heading over to Alyssa’s?”

  “Yep.” The exhilarating feeling of sharing this triumph with Dad practically made me dance with glee. I could take on the world, or maybe save it! I hoped for the latter.

  No sooner had Grandma Talya’s stories ended, than Drew pulled me away from the living room. Hardly waiting until the door shut behind us, he whispered, “I know you were disappointed about missing the opportunity to go to the barter booths a couple of days ago, but Marcus and I had a chance to visit just before they closed. We found out something pretty interesting that I thought you should know about.”

  “Well? Don’t keep me in suspense. What is it?”

  “Some of the slaves brought in are from Tuala.”

  “Okay? What am I supposed to do with that?”

  “Sorry. I’m getting ahead of myself. Alyssa told me that the seeds you guys are experimenting with came from a place called Tuala. And I was thinking…”

  “That one or more of those slaves would have a better idea of how to grow the seeds! You’re brilliant!” My hands flew up of their own accord, pulling Drew’s face down until I planted a kiss smack on his lips.

  My enthusiasm overruled my usual sense of restraint. Nothing physical had ever happened with Drew, yet I’d always had a crush on him. I couldn’t risk ruining my friendship with Alyssa by messing around with her twin brother, after all.

  Drew’s lips parted, and he pulled me closer into the kiss. As soon as he recovered from the shock of my sudden attack, his hands massaged my back. A low, sensual groan vibrated across our lips.

  What was I doing? No, no, no! I pushed him away, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. With wide eyes, I shook my head as if to deny I loved the feeling washing through me. “That can never happen again!” Without waiting for his reply, I turned and ran.