by Lexy Wolfe
Marcus frowned in concern, reaching out hesitantly before touching her forehead, then clasping her outstretched hand in both of his. “You are so cold. Should I warm some broth for you? I am better at that now. It won’t burn you.”
“No. Too…tired.” Storm’s smiled sadly, her eyes locking on his. “Tell them…I am sorry.”
As her hand went limp in his and her eyes closed, Marcus could only stare without comprehension for a heartbeat. When Keaira and Aiden began to wail, he yelled, “Dusvet Lyra! Dusvet Lyra, help!”
She sat up, instantly awake, and ran over. She grabbed the unconscious woman by the shoulders and shook her, calling her name to no avail. “No. No! Storm, wake up! You must wake up. What will Ash or Skyfire think if you…if you…” The grief-stricken bellow of the dragon god deafened them, but the tribal bond brought Taylin running with the Githalin Totani.
The healer slid on her knees by the inert woman, moving her to lay flat. “Marcus, watch the twins,” she ordered. The pale young man nodded frantically as he gathered the two tiny, swaddled infants and backed well away. He flinched when he felt someone touch him and looked up to meet Dzee’s sad gaze. As she put a winged arm around him, he closed his eyes and leaned into her silent comfort.
“She isn’t breathing,” Lyra said, kneeling across from the healer. She covered Storm’s mouth with hers to blow air into her lungs. “Why isn’t she breathing?!”
“Her body and spirit are too weak to sustain their connection to each other.” The Sevmanen healer grimaced as the dragon god’s roar shook the ground. She put her hands over Storm’s heart and brow. “Keep breathing for her, Lyra. I will keep her heart from stopping. It will help her hold on, but not forever. I cannot affect the soul.”
“I can,” Citali stated as he turned to leave. “We will not lose our little sister now.” He vanished as he slipped into the dreamscape realm, the air swirling cold in his wake.
Mosir stood, watching the struggle to keep Storm alive. He looked towards the entrance sharply, frowning as he concentrated. Forgotten and unnoticed, left the cavern. Taking his beast form, he bolted away as fast as he could run and disappeared over the rise. “Wait for me, my friend,” he begged.
THE DRIZAR RAN at his fastest pace, then abruptly turned, digging in claws to brake his momentum. He raised his head, sniffing the air for several moments. Changing form into his humanoid shape, he held out a hand, narrowing his eyes in concentration.
Eventually, two figures appeared, their movements reflecting the agony one of them suffered. Thesrial balked at the threshold. “I can’t,” she said. “I am forbidden—”
“From returning to the Knowing One. This is my home.” Thandar touched her cheek in a tender caress. He grimaced in pain, half collapsing. “Aelia, no. Please, hold on. I am trying to reach you.”
Mosir approached the two with clenched fists and a dark glower. For several minutes, he stared hard at Thesrial, then he took his drizar shape, lowering himself to the ground. “Get on. Both of you. Aelia and Thandar’s lives and souls depend on mending their bond.”
The portal closed when the pair cleared it. Thesrial helped Thandar to settle before settling behind the Totani, putting her arms around him to insure he remained astride. She took a deep breath. “Thank you for trusting me.”
With a growl, Mosir stated, “I do not trust you, Trisari. But you aid my brother and there is no time to delay getting him back to his Githalin’s side.” Power coiled in his haunches. “I promised to protect Aelia. Nothing else matters.”
HANDS PULLED LYRA away from Storm. The pale woman blinked in a daze, lightheaded from breathing for the woman. “What…? Who…?” Mosir drew her away to allow the battered, golden form of Thandar to take her place. “Oh, goddess bless! You found him!”
“Pray not too late.” He hunched instinctively at the looming, dark figure of the dragon god behind them.
“Aelia. I’m here.” Trembling fingers touched Storm’s cheek. He lay beside her, taking her right hand in his, pressing it against his face. “Please come back to me,” he whispered after several agonized minutes of silence. “I will go away forever if you want, just don’t let your life end. Not like this.” He closed his eyes. “Not now. Not when you finally have your family again.”
At first, there was no change. Then suddenly, she gasped, arching in pain as awareness flooded back. She looked at him for a moment, a weak smile touching her lips. “You…are family…too.” With a sigh, her eyes closed again, but her color remained healthy and her chest rose and fell with her breathing. Thandar relaxed, his head dropping to his arm as he passed out as well.
“Mosir,” the Raging One growled, his glare fixed on the Trisari who knelt nearby, hands clenched into fists resting on her knees. “You have much to answer for, bringing this traitor into My domain.”
“Yes, my lord,” the drizar Totani replied in subservient tones.
The god grabbed Thesrial’s hair, jerking her head up to look into her eyes. He bared his teeth with livid malevolence. “I should kill you for your crimes against Me and My children, Trisari. Your sins that nearly damned the world.”
“Yes, Lord Desantiva,” Thesriel answered with only a slight quaver in her voice.
“No!” Everyone looked at the drizar Totani in shock when he dared put a hand on the human-shaped dragon god, stopping him from striking her. “She aided Thandar.”
Desantiva’s eyes flashed with fury. “And that excuses her for the actions that damned the world to the suffering that continues to linger?”
Mosir struggled not to lower his gaze. “We suffered by extension. Our sister suffered more than any of us. Tortured at the hands of this one’s own brother, yet she found it in her heart to defend them against the ancient trinity. I want to see them all suffer as much as she had like You. But giving into that urge would dishonor Zhekali’s sacrifices.”
A small sound of discomfort from Storm, soothed unconsciously by Thandar, broke the tense silence. Desantiva released Thesrial roughly with a snarl. “You are right, Mosir. No harm will come to this Trisari.” He fixed the pale being with a meaningful glare. “For now.” She lowered her eyes in subservience.
“Where are Nolyn and Seeker? And Terrence.” Taylin asked after several minutes. “Were they not with Thandar? Did they not find him after all?”
“They were with us,” Thesrial stated in a hushed voice. “Someone was in distress and they left with him to help them, but I do not know who was in need or where they went. When Thandar’s Githalin began slipping into death, he and I decided to attempt to find a way back to her. Mosir heard him and opened the path to bring us here.”
The god growled, eyes narrowing. “I sense change in the land. Sumyr’s hand is heavy on it. Seek out the wanderers,” Desantiva ordered. “Now!” Save for the drizar, who remained near Thandar and Storm, the rest of the Totani scattered with the dragon following.
Star and Skyfire led their group out of the foothills of the mountains as the sky colored with the setting sun. They paused at Tyrsan’s aggrieved voice from behind them. “A little slower, please? Neither of my parents were mountain goats.”
“What is a mountain goat?” he asked, looking back, her face filled with innocent curiosity.
“Drizzen with hair instead of scales and no taste for anything but plants,” Skyfire explained in droll tones as the rest of their group caught up to them. “The males are as surly as the drizar.”
Tyrsan arched an eyebrow as Star looked him over. “You are not that hairy.”
“Not that—?” He covered his eyes when the Swordanzen escort began chuckling. “I see you learned to wield your people’s literalness quite effectively, Su’alin.”
The delicate woman smiled, her teeth bright against her dark complexion. “Thank you, Dusvet. I have worked very hard to understand the northborn.” Her smile faltered. “Especially my lifemate.”
Skyfire put a reassuring arm around her shoulders. “Nolyn will be fine. You and he and your daughter will
be back in Forenta before you know it.”
“But is that what I should do?”
He tilted his head. “You ask that now? Your lifemate is a Forentan and you share a child in Laurel.”
She turned sad eyes up to his. “But what about our tribe, Radisen? Our family.”
A scowl darkened his expression. “I am no longer na’Citali, Kiya. The na’Zhekali are my family. None but you and Rengi shed a tear when I left. The first or second time.”
The slight woman crossed her arms. “It does not matter if you share bayuli-volsha with us or not, you share blood ties. And they are in distress because of Father.” Her scowl eased with sympathy. “I know you do not want them to suffer as you had. You have always cared about others welfare, no matter the face you let others see.”
Skyfire sighed heavily. “Their suffering is my fault. If Mother had not been lost because I was too weak as a spiritwalker—”
“No, take no blame for them. It is their fault. They choose not to stand up to the Alanis Su’alin,” Rockspar stated in flat tones from behind the siblings. “To serve the great father and His divine servants means fighting for what they represent, what they have taught. To seek them out for answers when there are questions, not blind obedience. Your sire has been breeding weakness into the Path of the Spirit.”
The slight woman flushed at the accurate, pointed criticism. “You are not Su’alin! You understand nothing off—”
“I understand your Path could not survive without others’ strength protecting you,” Rockspar shot back. She drew her two-edged sword when Star jumped toward her with her twin-bladed dagger drawn. The warrior blocked her stab, but her blade slipped between the points of the Githalin Su’alin’s weapon.
Star twisted the other’s blade from her hand, flinging it aside. Skyfire grabbed his sister’s wrist, keeping her from attacking the other Swordanzen in the turmoil of shame and anger. “We are not weak!” she hissed.
“You are not weak, Star,” Pacer stated as he handed Rockspar her fallen sword. The Swordanzen woman snatched it from Pacer and stalked away with an inarticulate grunt of irritation. “The others submit to the Alanis Su’alin without question. We have watched you grow and flourish away from his poisonous influence to stand on your own. We are proud to have walked your journey at your side.”
He smiled at the grumbling woman before giving Star his attention again, solemn. “There is no shame in needing others’ protection.” He looked at Skyfire. “We understand that now through Storm. The outlanders protect her with the fierceness of one of the people. More so since they often must confront her directly to convince her to yield to their protection. I think even the child, as gentle a soul as he is, would attack any who dared challenge her when she is too weak to stand for herself.”
“Yes. We guard Aelia from herself as much as outside dangers.” Skyfire closed his eyes with a sigh, opening them after a moment to frown at Star’s sudden change in demeanor. “Kiya? What is it?”
“Nyla,” she whispered with growing panic. “Something is wrong. She is in danger!” Without hesitation, she all but ran up the hazardous path. Heedless of the sharp rock that cut her as she scrambled to complete the climb, she ignored the calls of the others in her frantic dash. They quickened their pace when they heard her shout, “Father! No! What are you doing?”
They arrived to find Star standing against the rust-colored stone pillar protectively. The Alanis Su’alin, bare-faced, held a club in his hands. Two of the other tribesmen held onto his arms in a vain attempt to hold him back, several more scattered on the ground where he had thrown them off. Youngsters and adults not as bold hovered over the fallen.
Roshisan glowered, shaking the smaller young man off his arm roughly. “Step aside, Kiya! I will not permit this abomination to destroy our lord father’s Path.”
Star’s eyes went wide. “Abomination? Nyla is A’tyrna Ulan! One of the sacred pillars of Desantiva! You can’t—”
He seethed, all but spitting in his rage. “If not for this A’tyrna Ulan, you would not have been led to betray your family!” With an inarticulate shout, he shoved the woman on his arm away and raised his weapon. “You turned your back on us!”
The jarring sound of impact rung in the air. Skyfire stood in front of his sister, Githalin swords drawn and crossed, catching the club between. He bared his teeth. “The only one who betrayed anyone is you, ‘Father.’” With a grunt, he shoved the older man, stalking toward him. His knuckles gleamed white as he clenched his weapons. “You are quick to pass judgment and punishment on those who cannot stand up to you.”
“Radisen, no!” She looked at Tyrsan with wide eyes when the Sevmanen put an arm in front of her, keeping her from interfering in the confrontation. “Dusvet, please! They will kill each other!”
“Perhaps.” The Sevmanen’s expression was grim. He glanced down at her. “You know they see nothing but each other. Getting between them now would only get you hurt, and that would only make things worse.”
“But you are a Dusvet Guardian! You can stop them,” Star argued in desperation. “Please.”
Tyrsan shook his head. “I could slow time around them. I could age the ground and make them slip, interrupting their fight. But nothing of the Timeless One’s gifts can fix the grief and anger festering between them.” He straightened up when he felt her straining to run to her father and brother ease. “I’ve learned enough about your people to know that ‘talking it out’ would never happen. Nor solve anything. If the emotions are not vented physically, they will only linger and fester and become unmanageable.”
The woman that Roshisan had pushed away got to her feet with the help of two others. She limped to the two. Star caught the woman’s arm when she stumbled because of the gash in her calf. “Jarota! I am so glad to see you live.”
The woman offered a wan smile. “I am grateful you reached us, Githalin Su’alin. Though I had hoped you would intercept us sooner when I had given you the tasad.”
“There had been complications on our journey we could not avoid,” Tyrsan stated in Star’s shamed silence. “We are here now.”
Their conversation stopped when Roshisan swung his club at Skyfire. The lean warrior blocked with one hand, slashing with his other sword. Red blossomed from the cut onto the cream-colored robes. The bite of the blade pushed the Alanis Su’alin further into his rage and he threw the weapon aside to attempt to grab his eldest son.
Skyfire dropped his blades to meet the assault on equal terms. Despite their dark skin, bruises became visible through the smears of blood from cuts and scrapes caused by fingernails and stone alike. They only spoke when exhaustion began to overtake their rage. “I did not kill Mother!”
Roshisan bared his teeth as he charged, briefly grappling before the other shoved him off. “You may as well have! You were to be Alanis after me. But you were too weak to defeat the su’dinnais that attacked you.”
“I was a novice, not fully Su’alin!” Skyfire shook his head. “You know how long it takes to reach strength as you and Mother had.” He shouted, “She was the strongest and still couldn’t—” His words halted when his father landed a punch in his solar plexus, staggered a moment.
“You abandoned her, just as you abandoned the tribe!” Roshisan roared. He snatched up his club, raising it up to smash down on his son’s head. The swing stopped partway when he saw Star standing in front of her brother, her Githalin dagger in one hand, her Naming Blade in the other.
“Enough!” Star’s eyes glittered with tears in the growing light of the rising sun. “Mother died to protect Radisen! You bring shame to her by turning on everything she loved and protected.”
“How would you know?” He reached out to yank Star out of the way, jerking back when she slashed across his hand with the knife. “She has been lost to us all since her death.”
Star stared hard at her father. “She told me.” Even Skyfire looked at his sister in shock. “Yes, I found her in the dreamscape. She grieves the pain you
have caused those around you. She refuses to go to you because she fears you will turn on her as well, blame her for failing to protect his vision.”
“No,” Roshisan whispered, blood draining from his face in dismay. “No, it can’t be true.” He raised his fist to backhand the slight woman, eyes ringed white with madness. “You lie! We loved each other. I would have found her by now. She is gone!”
Radisen stood partway then abruptly dropped to his knees in shock moments before a low rumble vibrated through the ground, growing until no one could remain standing due to the violent earthquake. “Aelia!” he choked. “No!”
Fissures began to appear in the rock around the feet of the humans trying to find a place of safety. Dark, volcanic smoke billowed from cracks as hot gasses hissed in escape.
The na’Citali screamed in fright as what resembled charred corpses with grotesque, elongated limbs and digits emerged. The humans startled when the huge Sevmanen roared in challenge, swinging his quarterstaff. One monster collapsed as its head flew into the distance from the metal-capped end of the blunt weapon. The ribs of another were crushed with the follow through of the staff’s other end, a putrid ooze spattering the rock with acidic hissing.
Without hesitation, Rockspar and Pacer moved to the defense of the less martial na’Citali, facing the creatures as they kept emerging from the split in the ground. A larger creature lumbered from further up the slope, acid dripping from long teeth as it pushed through the smaller monsters toward Star.
Skyfire jumped between the giant beast and his sister, blocking its swipe with both swords. The two traded blows with furious intensity. The man only grimaced as ragged claws raked gashes across his shoulder and chest. Venom slowed his reactions, allowing the monster to knock him onto his back.
“Radisen!” Star screamed, throwing herself over her brother protectively. She squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the raking claws. An agonized cry of pain startled both siblings to look to see Roshisan, the points of the beast’s claws sticking through his lower back as it impaled his abdomen. But the monster had stoppe;, Roshisan’s hands were wrapped around the hilt of his Naming Blade, had had sunk deep into the thing’s eye.
