Test of the Dragon

by Jessica Drake

  Tavarian was pale with strain when he released me, sweat dotting his brow. "I think you'll have to get me on the saddle yourself," he said, then tilted forward, his eyes already sliding shut.

  "Tavarian!" I caught him as he slumped against my chest, then pressed my hand against the side of his neck, feeling his pulse. It was weak, but still there. "Dammit. Halldor, can you help me lash him to the saddle?"

  The two of us lifted Tavarian onto Lessie's back and tied him to the front of the saddle so I could slide in behind him.

  "Whatever this weapon is," Halldor said as I tucked the horn into one of my pouches, "it's obviously too dangerous to be used in its current form.”

  As we flew back to base, I tried not to dwell on things that could have gone much worse.

  "At least we know this thing works, right?" I told Lessie as I lifted my face and the wind flowed through my hair. There was something so refreshing about that, as if the wind's fingers were dusting the cobwebs off my brain and clearing my head. "And if Tavarian is able to meet with that Warosian mage, maybe she'll be able to teach him how to use it properly."

  "I hope so," Lessie said. "It's obvious that the horn was intended to be wielded by a mage, so with any luck, she will know how to minimize the blowback."

  Tavarian had regained consciousness by the time we landed in the courtyard, and he was able to walk, albeit assisted.

  "Don't worry about me," he said as I helped him inside. "I should be all right after a good night's sleep."

  We were just about to head upstairs to bed when Halldor grabbed my arm.

  "Seven people are approaching at great speed," he said. "I think the missing team is back!"

  Relief swept through me, banishing the lingering anxiety from our weapon experiment, and even Tavarian seemed to perk up.

  "They must have managed to retrieve some of the children," he said as we headed back outside.

  Rhia and Jallis joined us just as three dragons touched down. "Thank the skies," Jallis exclaimed as the riders dismounted. "What happened?"

  "We ran into a bit of trouble trying to sneak these little ones out of their home," a female rider said as she helped a young boy off the dragon. He was blond and rosy-cheeked, his eyes big and round as he stared at us. My heart ached for him; he couldn't have been more than eight years old. "But they've been very brave," she added, ruffling the kid's head.

  "Is there food?" a little girl asked plaintively as she was helped down from another dragon. Four children in total. Rhia's mother was going to be thrilled. "I'm so hungry."

  "Here, let's get you inside for a hot meal before bed," Rhia said with a smile. "I'm sure my mother would love to whip you up something to eat."

  "Yay!" The children perked right up, rushing past Rhia to get inside. But as the blond boy passed her, a loud crack came from the pouch on Rhia's hip, and he jumped, startled.

  "What was that?" he cried, turning to face Rhia. But a grin was already spreading across all of our faces, and as Rhia flipped open the flap on her pouch, the answer poked his head out.

  "Looks like you're a dragon rider now, buddy," she said as the tiny dragonling squirmed out of the pouch. The little boy shrieked in delight as the dragon leaped at him, and he caught the tiny, wriggling beast in his arms. Its scales were gold dappled with green, reminding me of Kadryn, but in reverse. "I meant to put the egg away after we got back, but I felt like carrying it around a little longer. Guess my intuition must have been telling me you would arrive!"

  "This is a cause for celebration!" Jallis exclaimed. "Come, let's get the two of you inside so you can clean him up and eat. Has your dragon told you his name yet?"

  "Her," the little boy said proudly. "Her name is Minaxa."

  "Would you look at that," Lessie said, her voice alight with glee. "Finally, I'm no longer the youngest dragon around!"

  I laughed. "Be careful," I warned as we went inside. "I might just assign you as her dragon mom."

  "You know," Lessie said thoughtfully, "I don't think I'd mind that at all."

  13

  That night, Tavarian and I went to sleep in good spirits. The arrival of a baby dragon had lifted everyone's mood, and we'd celebrated with a nice big bonfire in the courtyard, dancing and singing and telling stories about the great dragon riders from our history. The fact that the dragonling was a female made her arrival even better. Female dragons had become very rare, and the procreation rates for dragons had been dropping steadily over the last century. If we could bring just a few more baby dragons into the world, we could get a head start on increasing the dragon population.

  As I drifted off to sleep, I dreamt of a different world. A world where Elantia was free of Zallabarian rule and where dragons didn't have to fight anymore. Standing atop a plateau, I watched as six baby dragons scampered across the field, wrestling and chasing and play-fighting with one another. Lessie and a few other dragons stood watching nearby, their eyes shining with love and pride, and my own heart swelled as I realized at least one of the babies belonged to her.

  "Which one is yours?" I asked as I walked over to lean against her bulk.

  She nuzzled the top of my head briefly before turning back to watch the dragonlings. "You can't guess?" she teased.

  My gaze immediately went to a dragonling the size of a large dog, with iridescent blue scales the same color as Lessie's. "She's got green spikes instead of gold," I noted slyly. "Is Kadryn the father?"

  Before Lessie could answer, a dark shadow passed over the sky. I shivered as the sun disappeared and a cold wind whipped through the air. Suddenly the dragons went still, even the babies, and an awful feeling took root in my heart as they all looked to the sky.

  "My children." A deep, terrible voice echoed through the sky as the dark shadow spread across it. To my horror, it took the shape of a large, black dragon with glowing red eyes. "It is time to come home."

  "No," I said, my voice trembling. The dragonlings screeched, flapping their wings furiously as they leaped through the air, but they were too young to fly yet. "No, you can't take them!"

  But the other dragons took flight, and not just the ones standing near me. Others rose into the air from their perches on the cliffs and mountains surrounding us, joining the growing blight that spread across the sky. Only Lessie remained, but when I turned to her for an explanation, she didn't respond. She was staring at the sky, her eyes blank as if she was in a trance.

  "Lessie?" I slapped her shoulder, trying to get her to respond. But she said nothing, and the bond between us was a wall of blackness. No, not a wall, I realized with growing horror.

  There was nothing there at all.

  "Kill her," the evil voice commanded, and Lessie turned to me, maw opening wide as fire barreled up from her throat...

  "Zara!"

  I bolted upright at Lessie's voice.

  "Zara, are you all right?" Lessie asked, her voice stretched taut as a wire. "I could sense your pain and fear."

  The bond. I reached out for Lessie through the bond, and nearly cried in relief as her consciousness brushed against mine. "I had an awful dream," I said, pressing a hand against my galloping heart. My breathing was ragged. "I dreamed that Zakyiar turned all the dragons against us, and that he made you kill me."

  Stunned silence greeted me at the other end of the bond. "You know that I could never harm you, Zara," Lessie finally said. "And even if I did, the bond would kill us both."

  But I shook my head bitterly. "I don't think the dragon god would care about that," I said as Tavarian stirred beside me. "In fact, I think it would give him great pleasure to make us kill each other."

  "It's never going to happen," Lessie said stubbornly. "I would sooner set myself on fire than harm a hair on your head."

  "You're fireproof, Lessie," I said, a little irritably.

  "You know what I mean," she growled. "Besides, Zakyiar is just trying to terrify us into turning against each other. I was dreaming that a group of humans surrounded me and stabbed at me with pitchforks
, screaming, ‘DEATH TO THE DRAGONS!’ We can't let him win, Zara."

  "You're right." I let out a long, slow breath. "I'm sorry, Lessie. It's just so hard."

  She gave me a mental hug through the bond, melting away the fear and terror that had hooked their claws into my soul.

  "It's hard on us all," she said, "but undoubtedly the dragon god will hit you the hardest. We just have to be prepared for that and shrug it off as best as we can."

  Tavarian's arms slid around my waist from behind, and I leaned into him, allowing him to take the burden of my weight. "You having bad dreams too?" he murmured.

  I turned sideways so I could snuggle against his chest and told him about the dream. "I had a similar nightmare," Tavarian said as he stroked my back. "I was flying with Muza when suddenly the dragon god appeared in the sky and took control of him. He started torching villages and razing crops, eating any humans who tried to get in his way." He shuddered. "I tried to get him to stop, but it was as if the bond was severed. He wouldn't listen to me at all."

  "Do you think that would really happen if the dragon god was resurrected?" I asked. "That he would sever our bonds and take control of all the dragons?"

  "It's a real possibility," Tavarian said gravely. "But then again, the dragon god might just want to make us think that."

  We drifted back to sleep again, but I awoke three more times with similar dreams—blood-soaked portents of the future should we fail. And when I stumbled down the stairs to the breakfast hall, I noticed that I wasn't the only one who was tired. Everyone else, even the non-rider soldiers, was pale and haunted, shadows dogging their eyes.

  "Let me guess," I said as I sat down with Rhia, Jallis, and Halldor. "You've had bad dreams too?"

  "Awful ones," Jallis said in a brittle voice. "I dreamed I was back at my family estate, having a meal with my parents, and Kadryn set our entire home on fire. I woke up just before we burned alive."

  "I don't even want to talk about mine," Rhia said in a quiet voice. She chased a piece of potato around her plate with a fork but made no move to pick it up.

  "What are these dreams?" Halldor demanded. "And why are we all having nightmares at the same time?"

  "It's the dragon god," I said wearily. "He's trying to wear us down in our sleep."

  Tavarian called the rest of the council members over to our section of the hall, and I explained the situation with the dragon god and our impending quest at the forge.

  "I'm sorry this has affected you all," I said. "Now that we have two pieces of the heart in close proximity, the dragon god must be able to exert more influence. I'll set out for the forge right away so we can deal with this threat permanently."

  "So, the dragon god is still alive?" Captain Ragorin said incredulously. "On another plane of existence?"

  "Sort of," I said. "His soul is powerful enough that he's able to reach us from whatever world he's been cast into. I think it's because his heart was never actually destroyed. If the mages from the Dragon Wars had been able to get rid of it completely, then the dragon god wouldn't have any link to our world."

  "I hate to see you leave already," Captain Ragorin said. "Is there no one else who can go?"

  I shook my head. "The ancient gods have named me as their champion. I have to be the one."

  "Ancient gods," Daria muttered. "Now I really have heard everything. You're not seriously thinking about going alone, are you, Zara? Because that would be madness."

  I hesitated. "Rhia and Tavarian were supposed to come with me, but Tavarian needs to oversee the negotiations with Warosia. And I don't want to put anyone else in danger if I don't have to." I glanced furtively at Rhia.

  Rhia crossed her arms and glared at me. "We've already been over this, Zara. I'm going with you."

  "I wish I could come with you, especially since Tavarian can't," Jallis said heavily. "Maybe I could hand—"

  "No," I said firmly. We'd already decided Jallis would lead the stealth missions, and between aiding the resistance and looting the remaining floating islands, there were still a number to carry out. "You're needed here."

  "Then I'll come in his place," Halldor announced. "My ability to sense hidden enemies will come in handy, and besides, I want to see the old gods for myself." He clapped Rhia on the shoulder and grinned at her. "It'll be fun, won't it?"

  "This is supposed to be a dangerous mission, Halldor," Rhia scolded, but she was blushing again.

  "Maybe," he challenged, meeting my gaze, "but there's no point in charging into things with a doom-and-gloom attitude. You were a treasure hunter before you became a rider, weren't you, Commandant? Don't tell me you didn't look at every expedition as an adventure."

  A thousand arguments sprang to my lips about how this was nothing like an expedition, but they died. Halldor was right.

  "You're damn right I did," I said, forcing a grin. I was born with a sense of adventure, if nothing else, and I wasn't going to let Zakyiar take that away from me, no matter how hard he tried.

  14

  "I hate that we have to do this," Tavarian said as we stood on the balcony together. We watched the sunset together after spending most of the day packing and preparing—him for his trip to Warosia, and me for my journey to the forge. "If I could, I would meet you at the forge when I'm finished with this negotiation."

  "No." I laced my fingers in his as the sunlight shifted from gold to pink. At least it's not blood red, I thought, remembering my dreams from last night. With everything I'd seen and done, I wondered if red sunsets were omens, and the last thing I needed was a portent of doom to herald the beginning of my quest. "The others need you more. Besides, there's no reason to put yourself in danger."

  "I would slay any monster, face down any god, to keep you safe," Tavarian said. He tilted my head back so that I looked up at him, his silver eyes brimming with emotion. "You have to know that by now, Zara."

  "I do." My lower lip trembled, but I smiled anyway. "It's what I love about you. You serve your people selflessly, regardless of what they say or think about you. That's not something I would have been capable of before I met you. I was selfish and greedy, out for myself. Being with you has changed me."

  "Greedy, maybe," Tavarian teased as he hooked a curl behind my ear. "But never selfish." He dipped his head, lips brushing mine, and the spark of need deep in my center ignited into full-blown desire. Sinking my hands into his silky black hair, I kissed him back for all I was worth until the two of us were panting and tearing at each other's clothes.

  "Are you sure?" he asked as he lifted me up to sit on the balcony edge. The chilly breeze whipped around us, tugging at my hair, and I knew that if Tavarian let me go I would tumble off the edge to the rocky precipice below.

  Yet there was something exciting about being on the brink like this. My shirt was open, my trousers were down around my ankles, and anyone could see us if they passed beneath the tower. I was standing on the knife's edge between life and death, and I'd never been more aroused.

  "Yes," I growled, and yanked him against me. Our mouths met in a clash of teeth and tongues as he sank inside me, and we made love furiously against the backdrop of the dying sun. Waves of pleasure steadily built until they burst inside me, a fiery crescendo that sent me soaring higher than any dragon flight.

  "I love you," Tavarian said raggedly, his face buried in my hair. We were sweaty and spent, still leaning against the balcony, but for once my head was clear. There were no dark thoughts of failure or nightmares clinging to my thoughts, only a warm sense of bliss and comfort. His hand grasped mine, and something cold and metallic slipped around my finger. "When you get back, we're getting married."

  I lifted my hand to see a large sapphire glinting on my ring finger. "That's one way to propose," I said, laughing. "Where are we going to find a priest?"

  He grinned. "If you can make it back from the god of death's domain in one piece, I daresay finding a priest will be a cakewalk."

  I caught his face in my hands, tracing the angular lines
and planes with my thumbs. "You be careful too," I told him, serious now. "You may not be going to visit a death god, but your mission will be dangerous too." It was very likely there would be Zallabarian assassins and agents waiting for him in Warosia, just as there had been in Traggar. Tavarian had nearly been assassinated twice that I knew of, and the Zallabarians would be even more eager to get at him now.

  "I will," he promised.

  We retreated to our tower room to clean up, and then I went down to the courtyard to meet the others. Lessie was already saddled up, as were Ykos and Kiethara, and the soldiers were loading our luggage into the saddle bags.

  "Here." I handed Halldor a leather pouch identical to the one that hung from my hip. "Keep this on you at all times. We can't afford to lose it."

  "A piece of the dragon heart, eh?" Halldor took it, a mixture of fascination and revulsion on his face as he tugged open the flap. His eyes widened at the sight—it looked like a huge, coarsely cut black diamond. "I would think this was just a giant jewel if I didn't feel the horrible energy coming off this thing," he muttered. "No wonder we're having such awful nightmares."

  "Speaking of nightmares," Daria said from behind us. We turned around as she headed toward us with the rest of the council in tow. She was carrying a pouch of her own, and she handed us three small tins from inside it.

  "This is a special tincture, passed down from my mother's side of the family," she said. "Just smear a little bit of it under your nose before you go to bed and you'll have a dreamless sleep. The only thing is that it makes waking up before morning extremely difficult, so I would suggest that you don't all take it on the same night."

  "Thank you." The thought of being unable to wake up if the dragon god was able to visit my dreams anyway made my insides clench in terror, but I decided not to mention that. Daria meant well, after all, and it was worth a shot, wasn't it?

  "You'll promise to keep our secret, won't you?" Rhia re-confirmed with them.