Secrets Bound By Sand

by T. A. White

  Ilith's tongue flicked out washing across his face. It was unnecessary, but she liked the squeaking noise he made when she did it.

  She chortled to herself as she waddled away, her backside swaying.

  "I'm going to assume that means the dragon has no objections to my help," the man said, wiping his face with a piece of his robe.

  Amusement bowed Dewdrop's shoulders, before he composed himself. "I'm guessing you're right."

  After that, Ilith lost interest in the conversation, making her way over to Ryu and laying down beside him, her snout only inches from his body. She wished her mate would wake up.

  She nuzzled the spot where his dragon rested, his presence calling out to her soul. His mental signature was stronger than it used to be. Clearer. Power radiated from his sleeping body.

  It smelled astonishingly like home. For one brief minute, she allowed her to feel the bone-deep yearning for the place of her birth. But only a moment. Too long, and she wouldn't be able to bear it. That was then; this was her world now.

  She opened her eyes and made a questioning sound. The smell wasn't only coming from the dragon, but the bonded as well.

  Impossible.

  It was a scent unique to her world, one she hadn't had the pleasure of experiencing in more centuries than she cared to remember. It whispered of more innocent times, of freedom and flight and curiosity. Where actions had little consequences and forever wasn’t just a dream.

  Ilith dragged her thoughts from the nostalgic path they'd taken and bent her head closer to her mate, snuffling along his body before pausing. It was as if her mate had traversed the breech and then returned, the smell of it clinging to him as proof of his journey.

  She raised her head. What exactly had Tate and her mate been up to while Ilith was asleep?

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  "Um, Lady Dragon," a diffident voice said from behind her.

  Ilith didn't respond immediately, peering down at her mate in consternation and dismay. If what her senses told her was true, he was in more danger than he appeared. It would explain why he was unconscious. Worse was the very real possibility he might not wake up again.

  Human minds weren't meant to undertake that journey. It could cause irreparable damage.

  Curious and curiouser.

  Despite the severity of Ryu's predicament, Ilith found her interest engaged. She'd never been like other dragons, in that she didn't see difficult puzzles and feel driven to solve them, except for on very rare occasions.

  One such puzzle was what had led to her becoming entangled with her Savior.

  The person behind her fidgeted while Ilith kept up the appearance of being engrossed with Ryu.

  Dewdrop stepped into view and rolled his eyes at her, not deceived in the slightest. He, and Night probably, knew that despite appearances Ilith was hyperaware of her surroundings.

  The guardian tried once again to get her attention.

  Ilith's tail twitched the slightest bit, the only sign she was listening.

  Dewdrop bent a familiar, censorious look on her. Ilith had seen him aim it at Tate more than once. How strange to now be the one on the receiving side.

  "He's trying to help you. Maybe don't make his job any harder than it has to be?" Dewdrop cocked his head.

  Impudent whelp. How had Tate allowed these two to become so arrogant?

  Dewdrop misunderstood her message, reaching up and patting her snout like she was some domestic animal to be soothed. "I know he's irritating. Just try not to eat him."

  Night flopped onto his side a few feet away as he gave her a look that said he doubted her ability to succeed.

  Ilith bared a fang at the two of them.

  He wasn't the only one she'd have to try not to eat.

  The guardian joined them, his expression unsure as he fiddled with his sleeves. Ilith glared, not even trying to appear reassuring or agreeable. It was good for him to treat a dragon of her caliber with caution. He might live longer that way.

  "There are a few things I can try to help the change along," he said.

  Doubtful. If Ilith couldn't figure it out, she didn't think this unassuming two-legger would be able to.

  She'd already turned her attention back to the puzzle of trying to figure out Ryu by the time he'd finished speaking.

  He looked at Dewdrop in question.

  "We're going to take that as permission to proceed," Dewdrop said.

  The guardian hesitated. "Are you sure?"

  Dewdrop paused before nodding. "If she'd objected, it would have been much more obvious."

  Night sat by Dewdrop's feet. He must have communicated with Dewdrop, because Dewdrop nodded.

  "We both agree Ilith is unlikely to do anything to harm the two of us."

  Ilith gaze shifted until she stared at him, her reptilian gaze unblinking. The second membrane that covered her eye nictitated.

  The guardian didn't seem comforted.

  Dewdrop shrugged, the gesture careless. "If I'm wrong, you probably won't even see death coming. Dragons are fast like that."

  Ilith let out a small sound of amusement, the sibilant hiss further unsettling the guardian. Sadistic. She approved. Perhaps Tate's bond mates had some use after all.

  Uncertainty filled the guardian’s movements as he faced Ilith and lifted his hands.

  Ilith remained motionless, amused that he thought he had a chance of figuring this out. She prepared to be bored.

  A charge gathered around his hands, a halo invisible to all but the most perceptive eyes. Ilith had a second to brace for its impact, outraged denial filling her.

  The charge burst, hitting Ilith in the chest. She had time for shocked surprise that a human could harness such a strong power before the change was upon her, its familiar energy racing along her scales, down the ridges of her back, to her tail and back up again.

  The transition from dragon to human was never an easy one. It was full of endless possibilities balanced on the knife's edge of failure. Waver more than a little and you tumbled down, lost to the in-between.

  Ilith had only come close to that point twice in her long life. It was a terrifying prospect, to be so lost between worlds that you couldn't find your way back.

  The location dragons referred to, wasn't like the in-between the mortals sometimes called their elementals from. It was much deeper between the worlds where little existed. It reminded her too much of the long sleep and the silent isolation there.

  She felt her balance wavering, the change starting to dissolve.

  She threw herself into it, using every bit of her power to fuel its continuation. She felt the strain on her psyche and body, but didn't stop. She was too far into it now.

  Unknowingly, the guardian had given them the spark necessary to initiate the change, but he'd also thrust them headfirst into peril.

  Ilith hadn't risen to her station in life to die so quietly.

  She snarled and bore down, forcing the change one strand at a time. She mentally beat at the invisible wall between her and Tate, trying to break it through force alone.

  It refused to fracture.

  Despair welled up.

  Wake up! Ilith screamed. You will die.

  No response came from the small kernel of existence Ilith struggled to reach.

  Ryu will die.

  There. A tiny spark, but it was better than the silence of before.

  Ilith shoved every emotion, good and bad, every feeling, every ounce of it at the spark of Tate's existence. She watched as it hesitantly unfurled.

  Ilith? Tate's voice was whisper thin and groggy.

  Reach for me or we'll die.

  Tate obeyed. Ilith grabbed hold as the transition spread, a pained sound tearing from both of them.

  Tate fell to her knees and then onto her side. Once again naked after a difficult change, her body was shaking so hard her muscles spasmed.

  "What in the Savior's name did you do to her?" Dewdrop shouted, rushing to her side.

  Vale gaped as Ta
te's high whimpers filled the air. "It's never caused this violent of a reaction before. I don't know what happened."

  "Don't just stand there. Get her some clothes," Dewdrop ordered.

  "Hurts," Tate stuttered out through clenched teeth.

  Dewdrop's eyes were wide and concerned, a hint of fear lurking in their depths. She wanted to give him some reassurance, but she didn't have it in her. Her body felt like it had been ripped apart one cell at a time, then those cells were scrambled before being reassembled.

  For a moment all she could feel was pain as her nerves screamed. What the hell had Ilith been doing to cause this much agony?

  "Here, this will do until we can find her better clothes," Vale said holding out the robe he'd pulled over his head.

  Dewdrop took the robe, eyeing the other man's simple long pants and long-sleeved shirt with disbelief. Dewdrop helped Tate into the robe, grabbing her uncooperative limbs and shoving them through the proper holes.

  "Hot," Tate said in a whisper.

  Dewdrop's lips quirked as he read where her thoughts were going. To Vale he said, "How can you stand to wear all that in this heat?"

  Although Tate didn't see the distinctive sand dunes, the heat was still overwhelming, a wet blanket that irritated.

  The guardian shrugged. "Our faith teaches discomfort as something one needs to overcome through discipline and willpower. Too many people think comfortable is safe. Sometimes they pay with their life."

  Surprisingly wise words from someone whose Order did idiotic things on a regular basis.

  Tate's heart jolted as she remembered the reason she'd forced a change the way she had.

  Tate grabbed Dewdrop's arm. "Ryu? Is Ryu alive?"

  Your dragon man still breathes, but we have not been able to wake him, Night said, padding up to Tate and headbutting her lightly on her side before sitting back. I’m glad you’re back with us. The dragon is amusing but unpredictable.

  She allowed herself to relax as the pain lessened from agony to simply the wrong side of uncomfortable.

  She'd never had a shift go so bad—not even the first one where she'd nearly died. Given the raw state of her mind and her bond with Ilith, she would say she'd been a short step from death again.

  The sound of footsteps had Tate squinting up at Evan as his lips quirked. "I see you've finally managed to get her into human form."

  "What's he doing here?" Tate asked, trying to get a grip on current events. Having time and place shift like it just had—with Ilith taking control and Tate so far under she wasn't sure what had happened—was disorienting under normal circumstances, but now it threatened to send Tate's mind spinning.

  "You flew right up to our camp and made yourself at home," he said in a mild voice.

  Tate peered past him to the little community of tents set against the backdrop of a great forest behind them. They weren't the show tents the Avertine had used in Aurelia. These were simpler, designed to be broken down and set up quickly. Somehow, she’d managed to find her way to an Avertine camp containing both Dewdrop and Night.

  How had Ilith known to come here?

  "You're going to have to catch me up on current events," Tate said as Dewdrop helped her stand. "But later, when I don't feel like my body is going to dissolve into a thousand specks of sand."

  "We were kind of hoping you could do that for us," Dewdrop said, grunting under her weight.

  "I'm not that heavy," she told him with an unamused glance.

  Dewdrop hid his grin.

  If she can complain, she's going to be fine. Night whipped his tail behind him as he paced by their side.

  A snicker escaped Tate, one she wished hadn't when it set her body to throbbing again.

  "Don't worry about it. We'll get the other dragon into a tent," Evan said sarcastically, his youthful face at odds with eyes that looked like they’d seen and done everything.

  Dewdrop shot him an irritated expression. "I wasn't." Dewdrop supported the majority of Tate's weight as they staggered past.

  Evan's grin flashed as they passed. "You've become quite the uppity thing since you hooked up with her."

  "I take umbrage with that," Dewdrop returned. "I was always uppity."

  "I'll second that notion, and add cocky and arrogant to it," Tate said. The banter did its job of getting her mind partially off the discomfort still threading through her body. It was like an invisible wound involving the entire body that you tried to ignore, but couldn't help prodding at to see if it still hurt.

  They moved past Evan and a few of his Avertine. Surprisingly, Tate didn't see any of the white, painted doll faces or the loose robes from her last encounter with them.

  Some looked human, but many of the faces Tate saw staring at her wouldn't have passed. One had three eyes, the third of which was at the center of their forehead. Another person's arms almost reached their knees and they had a subtle curve to their spine that made it appear like they had a hunch. Tate suspected the person in question was extremely fast and good at climbing.

  "I'm surprised you brought the guardian here," Tate said, her gaze shifting to her friend.

  Since he and the Avertine had mended the chasm between them, he had become very protective of his former people. Bringing a guardian to the Avertine camp was a risk, especially in light of the conversations among the empire's elite debating the definition of sentient. Furthermore, they’d considered the merits of putting any Creator-touched creature down before they could become a threat.

  "It wasn't exactly part of our plans, but a lot has happened since you disappeared," he said, his face grim.

  "You trust him?"

  The Grand Master had wanted to show Vale a different way of looking at life. He'd hoped interaction with Tate and her merry band of misfits would sway the other man in some way.

  Tate had a feeling he was getting more than he'd bargained for.

  "Do I trust anyone except you and Night?" Dewdrop asked.

  Good point.

  The guardian has given no signs of being a threat, Night said, pacing beside them. His large form came up to Tate's waist. The Avertine are being very careful to make sure he doesn't see more than they allow.

  By this point, they'd reached a tent, their entry made easy when a girl exiting held the flap open so they could duck inside without having to juggle Tate's weight.

  The inside was sparser than the tents she’d visited in Aurelia, but it had enough comforts to make Tate think of warmth and home.

  Rugs covered the small living space, perhaps not as thick as they'd been in the city, but their colorful patterns immediately transformed the tent from stark to comfortable. Small pillows had been set around the area, and numerous candles flickered in the breeze from outside before stilling.

  "Set her there, boyo," the Ahnteela said from where she knelt over a set of three clay bowls, a deep blue and copper pattern dancing across their outsides.

  Dewdrop changed direction toward a small pallet waiting in the corner of the room. The mattress was small and thin but covered in thick blankets that would go unused if nighttime was anywhere near as warm as the day.

  Tate was grateful when she was fully horizontal. She didn't want to show it, but the short walk had taken more energy than she had to give. All she wanted to do was rest and let the world take care of itself for a while.

  She couldn't. There were too many things she needed to know for her to embrace the respite of rest.

  She focused on duty instead. "Tell me what's been happening since I was taken."

  Ryu had explained some, but she wanted to hear it from Dewdrop and Night. Their perspective of the situation would be unique to them and might shed more light on the situation.

  The two shared a glance, having an entire conversation in the blink of an eye. They might not share an ounce of blood between them, but they were brothers in every way that counted. Family in the most meaningful sense of the word. There might be minor disagreements, each picking on the other when they could, but let one
of their own be threatened and there'd be a reckoning.

  It was a relationship Tate was proud to be a part of, knowing she was the big sister in this equation.

  It was more than she'd ever expected to have, and perhaps more than she may have deserved if what she'd seen in the glass lake was true.

  She pushed that unsettling thought away, focusing on the here and now.

  "When you were taken, there was a lot of commotion. People were pointing fingers at everyone else, but not a lot of searching was happening," he said.

  We took matters into our own hands. We tracked you through the city before losing your scent, Night added.

  "Ryu decided the mission couldn't wait so he sent Roslyn, Jacob and the others ahead," Dewdrop said. "We were supposed to join them once we found you."

  Tate had so many questions, she didn't know where to start.

  "Tell me how you came to be with the Avertine," she said.

  "My people knew of the mediation the Silva called," Dewdrop said. "They've been migrating toward the Harridan's city for the last few months. They felt it time we had more of a voice on the imperial stage. When our search took us out of the city, I knew we needed a cover. I approached a tribe who got me to the Ahnteela and Evan's caravan."

  "And Ryu?"

  He was with us until a few days ago.

  Dewdrop nodded. "One day he walked out of the tent without a word and took dragon form before flying off. We hoped he'd sensed something about you since your trail had gone cold."

  Tate paused. That would roughly coincide with when she'd woken up in the back of Christopher's wagon.

  "How did Vale end up with you?" Tate asked. "I would have assumed he'd be sent ahead with the rest."

  The two were quiet for several seconds.

  "I was," Vale said, stepping into the tent.

  Tate's eyes lifted to his, a frown on her face as she studied him. He'd obviously been waiting outside for his moment to intrude. Why?

  Seeing her unspoken question, he continued, "The Grand Master sent me to observe you. I can't do that from Silvain."

  "You couldn't do that from here either," Tate said.