Brindle Dragon Omnibus 3

by Jada Fisher

  She took a couple more steps, still feeling the heat and power of the white dragon’s blast behind her, when suddenly it all stopped. Somehow, she knew that wasn’t a good thing, and she slowly turned with dread in her belly.

  Yacrist was standing in a smoking crater, his clothes singed and what looked like blood on his face, but he was too far away to be sure. While he looked worse for wear, panting and heaving, he apparently was still strong enough to extend his hands, dozens of those dark, slimy tentacles materializing in front of him to envelop the white dragon and her rider.

  Both of them were fighting valiantly, trying to cut each wild limb away, but the limbs appeared faster than they could attack. And the dragon rider horde above was still fighting off the many abominations remaining, weak and weary from giving their own internal power to their queen. It seemed only a few had energy enough to try to race to their leader as the vicious beasts attacked them.

  No.

  She wouldn’t let him take her.

  “Fior, can you get up? One more time, okay? One more big push.”

  Her dragon gave a little nod and got to his feet, shaking dirt and grass from his wings. She saw a couple of long scratches in them, but nothing too deep or wide.

  “We’re going to end this, right now,” she said, running up and swinging herself up onto his back despite the protest of her battered body. “Fly!”

  She didn’t need to verbalize the command. Fior knew her so well that she merely needed to lean forward. But there was a sort of finality to her exclamation, and they surged forward just like they had so many times before.

  Eist extended her hand, calling power to it as best she could. She imagined it long and burning hot like the sun, shaped something like a hook. They cut across the grass, so close to the ground that Fior’s wings almost brushed against it, closing the distance on Yacrist faster than what seemed possible.

  “Hey, Yacrist!” she called at the last second. His head snapped in her direction just in time for her hook to catch around his middle. Eist had hoped to yank him off his feet so she could to throw him with the same vehement force as everything churning inside her, but he resisted much more than she expected, ripping her from Fior’s back.

  But it wasn’t as if he was completely impervious to her pull. He stumbled, causing her to slam into him. For the second time in as many moments, Eist found herself tumbling head over heels, only saved from the ground by Yacrist’s thick form.

  When they came to a stop, she wasted no breaths. Perched atop his legs, she slammed her hands into his chest and called upon everything she had.

  She reached deep, deep down inside. Past her uncertainty, past her fear, past that sense of self-preservation that had always prevented her from going too far. She reached deeper inside of herself than she ever thought possible, and she felt her soul connect to the world around it like it hadn’t since that time she saw all those veins in Margaid.

  It was easy enough to wrap the tendrils of herself around everything she was connected to, tapping into what little power there was flowing through the ground. It surged up through her, white hot and shining gold.

  “Let. My. Friend. Go!” she cried, pouring all of that power out of her hands and into him.

  She wasn’t sure entirely what she was doing, almost going entirely by feeling, rage, and hurt rather than by all she had learned about the magical world. But she felt that same connection to the earth force its way into Yacrist, shoving through and burning the darkness within him.

  For a moment, it seemed to work. The man let out an ungodly shriek as his spine bowed upward. Eist held on, pouring as much of herself as she could into him. He seized and shook, his frame thrashing from side to side, trying to buck her off.

  The noise out of his mouth made her sick to her stomach, but she ignored it. She could feel the dark inkiness inside him pulling away from her light, hissing and sizzling at her intrusion. Its retreat filled her with a rare sort of hope, and she pressed further as smoke started to pour from his body.

  She felt like she had a real hold on him, a real, actual hold on everything that made him Yacrist. Opening her eyes, she saw the darkness in him boiling away from her hands. So much of him was still stained dark, but a solid chunk of his chest was brightly shining with her light.

  “GET. OFF!”

  His voice was more of a demonic shriek than human speech, but Eist found herself flying backward to slam into the ground yet again. Her head spun, and her vision barely cleared in time to see a particularly massive abomination swoop down and pick up Yacrist’s battered body.

  “No,” she groaned, trying to get to her feet as she watched the two fly off. Above, the twisted, disgusting creatures began to fall, disintegrating as they drifted to the earth, their power fading as their master left.

  He was getting away. She had to stop him. She had to. She was so close to getting her old friend back; she couldn’t stop now!

  Where was her dragon!?

  “Fior!”

  She saw his coppery, golden head peek up from a crowd of abominations still clinging to life. As soon as their gazes met, he barreled through them, sweeping up alongside Eist.

  “Give chase!” she cried, jumping onto his back yet again.

  Her body was screaming at her to stop, to take a break. It had been slammed, it had been scraped, it had been pushed fairly far when she was still recovering from her long, long imprisonment. But she couldn’t stop now.

  She couldn’t.

  Fior took to the sky, speeding after Yacrist despite his considerable lead. Eist bent low to him, letting the wind whip past her as she tried to catch a few moments of rest.

  “Eist!”

  She glanced behind her to see Ain and Gauis, leading her friends in a V formation as they broke away from the fight.

  “We’re right behind you!”

  She nodded and tucked herself into Fior, whispering for him to fly fast and true.

  He did, never wavering for a moment. They cut across the ground like a flash of lightning, following as the abomination ducked through trees and dipped into valleys, trying to lose their trail.

  But Eist wasn’t going to lose him, not now. She’d caught a glimpse of her friend when she’d been pouring magic through him, and now that he was in sight, she wasn’t going to stop until she found him again.

  2

  It All Comes Back Around

  They flew for what felt like days, but most likely was only an hour or two. By the time Fior was panting, his wings slowing to a more reasonable rate, Eist began to recognize their surroundings.

  She almost didn’t want to believe it at first, telling herself that there was no way she could pick out the formation of the trees and the familiar flattening of hills, but then a very particular staircase into the earth appeared just at the edge of her vision and she knew exactly where they were.

  The temple.

  Again.

  In a weird sense of repeating history, she guided Fior to the ground. She could feel that slippery, slimy power thumping beneath her feet, and it was only after she stood there for a moment that she realized something crucial.

  He’d brought her here on purpose.

  Had the whole thing been a trick to get her to follow him? Showing up at the academy, demanding that they surrender her to him? It all seemed very convoluted. Or maybe it was because his plans all had backups and his backups had plans, all building on each other and interlocking depending on who did what, but always having Yacrist come out on top.

  Maybe that was why the Blight was so relentless. While they always assumed their victory in war, they never assumed winning every battle. In fact, it seemed that it anticipated things not going its way.

  That was a stunning thought in and of itself, and she thought about all the ways that they had foiled the Blight, and yet it still had gotten a body, still connected itself to their corporeal plane, to her world itself. Had all of their wins so far been…given? Just anticipated steps in a very, very long fig
ht spanning millennia and different realms?

  That thought made her uncomfortable, and it didn’t ease as her friends came into sight in the distance, all of them looking exhausted and nervous. She had no doubt that they knew exactly where they were and exactly what all of it meant.

  It didn’t take them long to land beside her, the three humans and four dragons looking more than a little worn.

  “Did anyone follow you?” Eist asked, wondering if they would have any backup.

  Athar shook his head. “You t-took off too quickly. There were s-s-still a good number of monsters that hadn’t turned to ash when we f-followed you.”

  “I know that we’ve hopped through time, you’ve been imprisoned, and I’ve swallowed a few potions that I probably shouldn’t have, but I’m fairly certain that you promised not to do that rushing ahead thing.”

  Eist grimaced. “Sorry, I just—”

  “Ugh, I’m tired of this conversation,” Ain said. “Just let the magically-destined mystical girl do her sacrificing hero thing. What I want to know is, are we really where I think we are?”

  “It’s the same place where we lost Yacrist,” Eist said with a nod. Or a sigh. Or some sort of negative sound that made her heart feel heavy.

  “It’s-s where he was b-born, in a s-sense,” Athar said, considering the place. “It s-seems very like him-m to b-bring it full c-circle.”

  “The only question is if he’s using this place because of its connection to all of the magic in our world, or just because he loves the drama of having some sort of grand victory at the same place he was created.”

  “I guess we’ll just have to find out,” Ain said, pulling his bow from his back and restringing it. The muscles in his arms rippled impressively, and it was only by the intense set of his jaw that she realized just how scared the white-haired man was. “So, what’s the plan then? Sneak in? Go in with weapons ready?”

  “Is there any chance he doesn’t know that we’re here?”

  Eist gave a hapless sort of shrug. She had been so determined to catch up with him, so caught up in the feeling of seeing the darkness scramble away from her hands against Yacrist’s chest, that the revelation of where they were headed had really taken the wind out of her sails.

  “I lost sight of him a bit back. I was just following my vision. As far as I know, we’ve got about a half and half shot of him being surprised that all of us are here.”

  “Alright then, so sneaking it is,” Dille said. “Worse comes to worse, you reveal yourself and play it like you’re the only one around and we surprise him.”

  “Is it possible to surprise a creature that has the literal ability to possess people?” Ain wondered aloud, pulling an arrow from his quiver.

  “Like you said,” Eist answered blithely. “I guess we’ll find out. Keep your heads low. I’m guessing the same weak spots are back, so we should position our dragons there if we need them.”

  “You don’t want Gaius and Fior in there with us?”

  “Something about our bright, shining dragons just doesn’t seem to coincide with the whole stealth idea, does it?”

  “Fair enough.”

  There was another pause as everyone drew their weapons. Eist left her halberd behind, favoring her shortsword since it was better for fighting in small spaces. Similarly, even Athar chose something other than his usual, massive sword while Dille had a dagger in one hand and a vial in the other.

  “What’s that?” Ain asked, of course having his bow. Normally, Eist would argue that a bow wasn’t appropriate for indoor combat, but normally people weren’t as good with a bow as Ain was. It was uncanny, really.

  “You’ll find out later,” Dille said, the corner of her mouth going up.

  “Alright, I’ll hold you to that.”

  Wait a minute… Were they flirting? Now? Right in the hand of what was probably a trap.

  “What?” Dille asked, having caught Eist’s incredulous look.

  “Uh, nothing. Just distractions. Let’s end this once and for all, shall we?”

  “You know, I feel like we’ve said that before, and we didn’t end it then either.”

  “Thank you for your input, Ain. It has been heard and promptly discarded.”

  “Ah, and now I’m reminded of exactly why I used to mock you mercilessly.”

  Eist snickered at that, and the little dose of relief was enough for her to take a deep breath and bolster herself for what was to come.

  “You know,” Dille murmured as they edged closer, nerves on edge. “I wonder if I should just move in here considering how often I spend time here.”

  “Considering what has happened in all of your times here, would you really want to stick around?”

  “That’s a very good point. No, I would not. I really, really hope that I’m done with all the portal hopping I’ve done.”

  “What, you’re telling me you don’t like the confusion of living three different lives in three completely different eras?”

  “Guys,” Eist hissed, placing her foot on the very first step. She almost expected for a spell to hit her, or the very stone itself to snap around her feet like ancient teeth. But instead, she could hear the faintest notes of a drum beat from below.

  “Concentrate,” Athar added from the rear.

  “Trying,” Ain snapped as Eist descended another step. “But it’s kind of hard with that pounding going on. I can hardly think.”

  “It’s that loud?” Eist asked, risking making herself vulnerable by looking back at her friends. There was a series of nods, and she tucked that in the back of her mind for later. It seemed that maybe her hearing was getting worse.

  That was unfortunate.

  Another step, and then another, and with each passing stair, she was able to feel the beat reverberate through the thick soles of her boots. Right, it had to be loud if she could feel it all the way up to her blonde hairline.

  In a scene oh-so-reminiscent of several others, they crept down the steps and came upon a familiar sight.

  Or maybe it wasn’t familiar at all.

  Certain details were still there. The circular staircase. The mercenaries and followers posted in strategic spots. The torches burning bright, their distinctive scent filling the room and smoke drifting to the ceiling.

  However, the layout of the room had completely changed.

  The circle that the Blight had burst from to take Yacrist was just an empty hole that went down, down, down so deep that Eist could only see black. Floating above it, as if held by invisible hands, was a wide, thin circle of stone, which Yacrist was kneeling in the middle of, chanting words and making motions that had Eist’s skin crawling.

  The drummers were all along the edge of the balcony. If she got a good run up, Eist could probably use the edge of the banisters to launch up onto that floating circle. She could be on Yacrist before he even knew—

  A loud crash sounded from above, and the entire building shook. Eist barely had time to duck back around the corner of the stone steps before she heard the familiar screech of the white dragon.

  “I guess they got away from the battle,” she whispered to her friends.

  “So much for our cover,” Dille remarked. “He definitely knows we’re here now.”

  “No, we can use this to our advantage. Look.”

  She pointed carefully, making sure that her hand never left the shadows, and the others watched as part of the room caved in, just like it had before. But this time, instead of their own dragons pouring in, it was Fjorin, and Ale’a, and Dryss, and several more.

  Yacrist acted without surprise, leaving Eist to believe that he had indeed expected to be followed. Well, that was alright, because if he thought everyone was playing into his hand, it would make it that much easier to sneak up on him.

  The young man stood from where he had been kneeling, flashing that crooked grin she had liked for so long. It cut like a knife through her heart, and she was more determined than ever to get the Blight out of him. She could separate
them. She just knew it, especially after what she had seen in the field just a bit before.

  That same invisible force with a shimmering outline shot forward, filling the entire upper part of the temple. Eist could only faintly see the edge of it, glowing golden when her vision hit it just right.

  The dragons, however, also seemed to have a sense of it, because they dodged, rolled, and crawled across the ceiling while their riders shot their bows or readied their weapons. Eist wasn’t sure what they were doing until Elspeth landed right at the hole, and her great dragon dipped her head in.

  Yacrist’s smirk fell ever-so-slightly, blood still streaked across his forehead and clothes still singed from the blast he had taken just a few hours early. He was as battered as she had ever seen him since the Blight had taken him over.

  “Um, is she about to do what I think she’s going to do?” Ain whispered quickly. Eist nodded, and he let out several rapid-fire curses. “Come on, we need to get out of here before we get caught up in—”

  He didn’t finish. A blinding blast of violet issued from the white dragon’s mouth and filled the entire room.

  Eist was vaguely aware of screaming, and the white-hot heat of such a brilliant flame, but she hardly paid attention to it. Instead, her body moved on its own, her arms coming up and magic flaring to life in front of her.

  It was just like when she had used the bubble to cushion her and Fior’s terrible crash into the earth, yet not. The feeling was different. Instead of the magic cushioning her impact, it tried to repel the incredible force and magic of the queen of all the dragons.

  The vibration of all of it made Eist’s teeth chatter, and she swore she smelled burning hair as she kept her arms in front of her. She felt like she was being batted back and forth by some giant hand, but she knew that she wasn’t really moving at all.

  Thankfully, just when she was sure she was going to burst out of her own skin, it dropped off, and she would have fallen forward if it weren’t for Athar catching her.

  “Thank you,” she whispered breathlessly, blinking rapidly to clear the spots from her eyes. When she could see again, she looked to that floating circle.